


Far From Stark

by imaginethatstarlord



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Asexual Sam Wilson, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Bisexual Loki (Marvel), Bisexual Male Character, Bisexual Peter Parker, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Domestic Boyfriends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, LGBTQ Character, Lesbian Michelle Jones, Lesbian Natasha Romanov, M/M, Marvel Universe, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Other, Pansexual Character, Pansexual Tony Stark, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Partying, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Pepper Potts Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Angst, Peter Parker Has a Crush, Peter Parker Has a Family, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Ned Leeds, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Trans, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2019-10-11 01:38:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17437439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginethatstarlord/pseuds/imaginethatstarlord
Summary: Genius, Billionaire, Sk8ter Boi, Philanthropist, Teenager.





	1. Prologue- Boy of Iron

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spiderdan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiderdan/gifts).



Many people say he is just like his father. He acts brash and flashes a stack of cash like the hundreds mean nothing to him. He flirts his way out of any scenario, charming anyone who dares get in the way of his goals. His social media is flooded with professional aesthetic pictures, Starbucks cups, and beautiful cityscapes that he takes around New York at night. When he goes out and people recognize him, he puts on the same facade. False flirtations and smiles alike keep the people believing in this character. He had created an image for himself, a tough yet trustworthy outer shell that the world sees. 

The people that know him well know that he is just like his father in some ways, but in others, the two couldn’t be more antithetical. The boy does not show his true identity online or in interviews, he does not put his trust in the world. He doesn’t for good reason, the world has crossed him one too many times for him to blindly open up to the internet. 

He stands with his skateboard kicked up, one end in his left hand and the other stuck against the ground. He had ridden all around the city that day, ending up across the street from a local favorite sandwich shop in Queens. He had never been himself, but he had heard about it through the grapevine. His stomach growled, he decided this was the time to try it. 

The light changed, the crosswalk sign telling him to head across the paused road. He let his skateboard hit back on the ground and skated quickly to the other side. No one around was giving him a second glance. Still, he shoved his hood up over his head harder. His face was hidden in the shadow as he grabbed his board from the ground and pulled the door to the shop open. “So Mr. Parker, a number 5 for you?” The owner asked. 

“Yeah, and can you add pickles?” the boy responded. His heart started to beat faster, this boy was so adorable. He looked to be about the same age, maybe a year younger, but he had the most precious voice and his smile could light up a room.

The young Stark took off his hood, he had an idea. The boy, dubbed ‘Mr. Parker’, paid for his sandwich and then stepped to the side. He hadn’t looked up to see skater boy yet, but he wasn’t going to give up on this. “I’ll have the same thing that he’s having,” he said to the man behind the counter. 

“Really?” Parker responded, finally looking up from his phone that had been glued to his hand. When he saw the face that greeted him, it became pretty obvious that he knew who he was. Then again, what teenager in New York didn’t.

He smiled at Parker, “The name’s Will,” he said as he stuck out his hand for the other boy to shake.

He looked to be in shock for a moment before he took the offer, “Yeah I- My name is Peter.”

Will chuckled a bit, “Don’t look so nervous, I don’t bite,” he looked back towards the owner as he dropped Peter’s hand. He pulled out a fifty, “I’ll pay for both of our orders, and you can keep the change.”

The owner seemed completely shocked by this and so did Peter, “Y-You don’t have to do that!”

Will beamed at him, “But I want to. It’s no big deal really.”

The owner nodded before putting the money away and starting on the sandwiches. Peter was in shock, the William Stark just bought him a sandwich. Peter put his phone in his back pocket. His heart was beating out of his chest. Not only was he in the presence of a Stark, a member of one of the richest families in the world, but he was attractive and only a year older than him. “Thank you,” Peter said with a soft tone, “I’d like to make it up to you somehow! I know it’s only a 5 dollar sandwich, but I don’t know…” 

Will thought for a moment before a smirk found it’s way on to his face, “May seem like a silly request, but I don’t really get down to Queens much, why don’t you show me the best spots in town?”

“Ah, I- Sure! We’re already at one, this place has the best sandwiches in Queens!” Peter agreed.

“Yes we do, here you go boys. I’ll see you around Mr. Parker, and I hope I’ll see you around Will after you taste how amazing our sandwiches,” the owner said as he handed the sandwiches to the two teen boys.

“I’m sure I’ll enjoy it, see you around,” Will replied as the two boys exited the shop. Will still held his skateboard in one hand, the other holding the sandwich. He struggled a bit to unwrap it. Eventually opting to hold the board between his legs while he made his sandwich edible. Peter laughed a bit. Will looked up at him, fixing his hood back over his recognizable facial profile, “Where to Parker?”

~ ~ ~

A few months later… 

“Will you need to come over to my apartment as soon as possible!” Peter squeaked over the phone.

Will smirked, not pick up on the worried part of his tone, only on the excited part, “Why? You miss me that much Parker?”

Peter blushed on the other end of the phone, “Well… I ah… I got something to show you… Just… Just… Just get over here will you!”

Will laughed and grabbed his skateboard, “I’m on my way. I can’t wait until I can drive man. It’ll take so much less time to get to your place.”

“You say that like we don’t live in one of the most populated cities on Earth,” Peter teased, trying to calm down his shaky breathing.

“Okay well… it’ll still be quicker than me skating several miles, not that the practice isn’t good… and using the jets I put on the back are fun… Plus once I have a G Wagon I can pick you up any time and we will own this city!” Peter laughed a bit on the other end of the line, but he stopped when he heard Will next words, “I’ll see you in awhile Peter, I’ll text you when I’m getting close.”

“Wait, Will!” Peter yelled a bit too loudly in panic.

Will was confused by this, “You okay Parker?”

“Yeah, I ah… Could you stay on the phone with me until you get close? You know the last time you were coming over you got stopped by paparazzi and didn’t answer my calls and I got worried that something happened to you and I-”

“Relax Peter, if it makes you feel better we can talk until I get there. You’ve got a lot of time to explain what exactly I’m coming over for.”

Peter paused for a moment, “I wish I could explain, but honestly I have no idea how to even start.”

“You know what I always say, just say it as plainly and bluntly as possible. There’s no miscommunication or confusion that way,” Will replied, still smoothy making his way down a sidewalk, he had the route to Peter’s memorized by now.

“I got superpowers,” Peter answered after taking a deep breath.

“You got what now? How the hell did you manage that?!” Will asked, totally in shock by what his best friend claimed to have.

“Would you believe a radioactive spider?” Peter suggested.

Will contemplated it, “It wouldn’t be impossible.”

“Good because that’s what happened. It’s crazy, I can stick to walls an-”

“Slow down there Spider-Man I-”

“What did you just call me Will?”

Will furrowed his brows, “Spider-Man?”

“Woah! That’s totally going to be my superhero name!”

Will’s heart fluttered a bit, “I can’t wait to see what you can do Spidey!”

~ ~ ~

Six Months Later...

Will was sitting on the arm of Peter’s living room couch, his dad sitting on the actual seat part of the couch next to him. He was talking about random things with Aunt May, trying to bullshit his way through needing to talk with Peter. His excuse seemed to be that Will wrote Peter a recommendation for the grant from the September Foundation. Though Aunt May had come to like Will over the past months of him being friends with Peter, it was pretty obvious to him that she did not like his father. He didn’t really blame her at all for that. His dad was the kind of person you had to get to know to like, but even then you may find out you don’t really like him. 

Will was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of the apartment door opening and shutting. He smiled a bit, excited to see the look on his best friend’s face when he saw the scene. Will turned to look behind him and Peter did not disappoint, he saw Will and his eyes instantly lit up, then they moved to the second billionaire in the room, “Oh, Mr. Parker.”

His eyes turned wide and his mouth hit the floor. “Hey May… Hi Will. M-Mr. Stark… w-what… what are you... what are you doing here?” Will wasn’t really surprised that Peter seemed to be in shock. In all the months that they had been friends, Peter had never once come into contact with the older Stark.

“It's about that meeting you, me, and Will had. You've been getting my e-mails, right?” Tony asked. Will hoped Peter would just go along with it so that they could chat without May in the room. Don’t get him wrong, Will loved May, but there was no way she could know about Peter being Spider-Man.

“Yeah. Yeah. Of course, I have,” Peter responded, looking over to Will for guidance. Will just winked and mouthed “go with it”.

“Right?” Tony asked, clearly trying to get Peter to play his part. Will nodded him on.

“Regarding the…”

“You didn't tell me Will was recommending you for the grant,” May smiled proudly.

“The September Foundation,” Will cut in, urging Peter with his voice and facial expressions to pretend to know what was going on.

“Oh right,” Peter said, finally starting to get it. 

Will relaxed a bit as his father continued, “I approved, so now we're in business.”

“You didn't tell me anything. What's up with that? You’re keeping secrets from me now?” May asked in a bit of a scolding tone. She wasn’t really mad, but if she only knew what Peter was actually keeping from her.

Peter was about to speak when Will stepped in for him, “We figured since you love surprises we’d wait until everything was finalized before telling you, not that I thought Peter wouldn’t get it or anything, just that it’d be more exciting to tell you when it was all official,” He explained. 

May nodded, “It's so hard for me to believe that she's someone's aunt,” Tony stated out of the blue as he gestured to May.

“Yeah, well, we come in all shapes and sizes, you know?” May replied honestly. 

“This walnut date loaf is exceptional and you’re-”

“Okay I’m gonna stop you right there you dirty old man,” Will interrupted, smacking his dad lightly on the shoulder. 

“William Anthony Stark how dare yo-” Tony started, but was stopped by Peter.

“Wait your middle name is Anthony?” He asked.

Will’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink, it’s not that he disliked the connotations of his middle name, he just didn’t it in terms of the sound. “That’s beside the point, Peter!” He squeaked out in embarrassment. He cleared his throat before turning to the boy’s Aunt, “May do you mind if we talk to him for a few minutes to get all the details straightened out?” 

“Sure,” Aunt May replied, queuing Will and Tony to get up off the couch. The three made their way to Peter’s bedroom. 

Will reached up and smacked his father in the back of the causing the pair to pause in the hall after Peter disappeared into his bedroom, “Aye! That hurt kid!”

“It was supposed to,” Will snapped back.

“How was I supposed to know he didn’t know your middle name?”

“Because no one, but you, Pepper- Oh nevermind! Let’s go tell him why we’re really here,” Will said as he pushed open Peter’s bedroom door. Peter was sitting in his desk chair, while Will flopped onto his bed like he owned the place. 

“As walnut date loaves go, that wasn't bad,” Tony said as he bolted the door and spit the food out. Tony looked to where Peter was sitting, admiring the old computers on his desk, “Whoa, what do we have here? Retro tech, huh? Thrift store? Salvation Army?”

Peter rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “Uh, the garbage, actually.”

“And a few of my thrift finds,” Will added, pointing towards the ceiling to draw attention to himself.

“You're a dumpster diver,” Tony stated flatly, becoming less and less invested in his son’s best friend by the second.

“Yeah, I was… Anyway, look, um, I don’t know what’s going on here. Will didn’t tell me he recommended me for a grant,” Peter explained while simultaneously changing the subject. Tony let that slide because he wanted to get this moving. 

“Nope. me first,” Tony responded.

“Okay,” Peter answered intently. 

“Quick question of the rhetorical variety,” Tony continued as he pulled out his phone. Will couldn’t see it, but he knew that his dad was going to show Peter a video of him as Spider-Man, “That's you, right?”

“Um, no. What do you… What do you mean?” Peter asked with a gulp.

“Yeah. Look at you go. Wow! Nice catch. 3,000 pounds, 40 miles an hour. That's not easy. You got mad skills.”

Peter was beginning to panic, “That's all- That's all on Youtube, though, right? I mean, that's where you found that? Because you know that's all fake. It's all done on the computer.”

Will laughed a bit, launching himself upright. He was still sitting on Peter’s bed, but now he was facing the young hero, “The jig is up Peter. He knows. I know I promised I wouldn’t say anything, but it slipped out one day and now we need your help.”

“With what?” He asked.

“See now you’re asking the right questions,” Tony said as he makes Peter’s suit fall out of the air vent, “What do we have here?”

Peter jumps up, attempting to hide the suit in his arms, “Uh… That's a…” He said as he threw the suit in the laundry hamper. 

Tony observes him carefully before continuing, “So. You're the… Spider… ling. Crime-fighting Spider… You're Spider-Boy?”

Peter folded his arms across his chest, “S… Spider-Man.”

“Not in that onesie, you're not.” 

Will laughed at Tony’s remark, “I think it’s cute, I offered to make him a suit, but he said he wanted to make his own.”

“It's not a onesie! Besides Will is the one who gave me that name! And you know I don’t want to take advantage of you Will,” Peter paused as Tony picked up the suit and thought about what Peter had said, “I don't believe this. I was actually having a real good day today, you know, Mr. Stark. Didn't miss my train, this perfectly good DVD player was just sitting there and… Algebra test. Nailed it!” 

“So nobody outside of this room knows?” Tony asked.

“Nobody,” Peter assured.

“Not even your… unusually attractive aunt?” Tony inquired.

Peter shook his head vigorously as Will responded for him, “Pepper would smack you if she heard that. You’ll be lucky if I don’t smack you,” Will teased, “But no she doesn’t know. She’d freak out if she found out Peter was Spider-Man. It was almost too much for her when he started hanging out with me.” It was true, May had been a little apprehensive when Will first started hanging around Peter, but she seemed to really like him now. 

Tony rolled his eyes at his son before nodding, “You know what I think is really cool? This webbing. That tensile strength is off the charts. Who manufactured that?”

“We did,” Peter and Will answered at the same time. 

“Impressive… Climbing the walls, how are you doing that? Cohesive gloves?”

“More like a radioactive spider,” Will replied.

“A radioactive what now? Where did you even-” Tony stopped talking when looked through the eyeglasses on Peter’s suit, “Lordy! Can you even see in these?”

Peter chuckled awkwardly, “Yes. Yes, I can! I can. I can-I can see in those. Okay? It's just that… when whatever happened, happened… it's like my senses have been dialed to 11. There's way too much input, so… they just kinda help me focus.”

Tony thought for a moment before responding, “You're in dire need of an upgrade. Systemic, top to bottom. 100-point restoration. That's why I'm here,” Tony said as Peter sat down on the edge of his bed. He sat near the top half, Will moved to set his head on Peter’s shoulder. Tony watched the movements and the shade’s of Peter’s red face before continuing, “Why are you doing this? I gotta know. What's your MO? What gets you outta that twin bed in the morning?”

“Because… Because I've been me my whole life, and I've had these powers for 6 months. I read books, I build computers… And-And yeah. I would love to play football. But I couldn't then so I shouldn't now.”

“Sure, because you're different,” Tony said as he sat down on the far edge of the bed. 

“Exactly. But I can't tell anybody that, so I'm not. When you can do the things that I can, but you don't…and then the bad things happen… they happen because of you,” Unnoticed by Tony, Will squeezed Peter’s hand, his head still resting on the other boy’s shoulder. Peter’s face turned a little bit redder, but he was thankful for the gesture. 

Tony contemplated the boy’s words, “So you wanna look out for the little guy. You wanna do your part? Make the world a better place, all that, right?

“Yeah. Yeah just looking out… for the little guy. That's-That's what it is,” Peter said with a soft smile. 

“Speaking of looking out for the little guy,” Will cut in, moving away from Peter so he could see both people better. Peter was a little saddened by the loss of comfort, but he didn’t show it, “The little guy is being put in danger by Ol’Star Spangle Banner and we need your help to stop him.”

“Star Spangled-”

“He means Captain America kid. You got a passport?” Tony asked.

“No, I don’t even have a driver’s license,” Peter replied with a slight shrug.

“Have you ever been to Germany?”

“No,” Peter answered shyly. Will could tell he was confused about what was going on again.

“Oh, you'll love it!” Will exclaimed, “Boys trip!”

“I can't go to Germany!” Peter fired back.

Will crossed his arms and pouted, “And why not Parker? Don’t you wanna go on a boys trip with me to save the world?”

“Yeah, but… I got… homework.”

Will groaned, flopping back on to the bed in annoyance, “I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that you lame ass.”

“I'm-I'm being serious! I can't just drop out of school!” He defended.

“Hey watch your mouth Will,” Tony scolded, Will stuck out his tongue at him as he sat back up, “Might be a little dangerous. Better tell Aunt Hottie I'm taking you on a field trip,” Tony finished as he got off the bed and made his way over to the door.

Peter panics, shooting webs at Tony’s hand, which had just landed on the door nob, “Don't tell Aunt May.”

“Alright, Spider-Man…” Tony said before pausing, “Get me out of this.”

“Sorry, I'll get that…” Peter apologized before quickly getting the antidote and freeing Tony. He then went on with his original plan to leave the room.

“Can you believe we are going to Germany together Peter?!” Will asked excitedly as Peter took his place back on the bed.

“He’s not going to tell May right?” Peter questioned worriedly, playing with his fingers.

Will grabbed both his hands, a blush once again coming to Peter’s cheeks, though it was once again unnoticed by Will, “No Peter, he’s not going to tell May… Can you just focus on the fact that you’re basically an Avenger now?!”

“Holy shit you’re right!”

~ ~ ~

In Germany

Will convinced his dad to let him bunk with Peter at the hotel with Happy rather than with him, which he was extremely excited about. The truth was, Will had started to develop feelings for Peter and with him at school five days a week and all his free time being taken up with being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, he didn’t get to as much time with him as he would like to. He was thrilled to have these few days where the only thing planned was one fight with the other Avengers at some point in the next day or two. “Parker!” Will whined, “Where are you I’m bored as hell!” 

“This room is huge Will!” Peter shouted back from somewhere far away, the sound was extremely muffled. 

Will rolled his eyes, “Get your ass back to the living room Pete!”

“Hey this place has thin walls boys, try to keep it down when you get back,” Happy said as he poked his head in the room.

“When we get back?” Will asked as Peter made his way back into the same part of the large hotel room as the other to occupants. 

“Yeah, get ready. It’s time to go,” Happy replied.

Will watched Peter’s face light up, which made his face light up. Peter ran for his bag, pulling out his old suit, “Pete what are you doing?” Will questioned.

“Putting on my suit?” 

Will scoffed, “You are not fighting Captain America in a onesie!”

“It’s not a onesie!” Peter defended.

Will laughed as he pulled a case out of his suitcase, “Try this on for size. It’s from my dad. It’s not as good as if I had made it, but it’s still pretty great.”

Peter opened the pristine case to find a new and improved Spider-Man suit inside, “No way. This is the best day of my life!”

Will laughed, “Glad you like it, Parker. It’s not made of Vibranium like my suit though, so be careful okay?”

“Wait your suit isn’t made of iron like your dad’s? Then why are you Iron Boy?” Peter asked. He was honestly confused.

“About a year ago my suit got a revamp thanks to a penpal I made named Shuri. Before that is was made of Iron, but that’s beside the point Parker! We gotta get changed and go kick some avenger ass!” Will exclaimed as he pointed to the sky triumphantly. 

Peter laughed as he started to get changed. Will ripped his eyes away and began to change his own clothes. He put on a black short sleeve button down and black skinny jeans. The red bracelet that held his suit was secured around his left wrist. He turned back around to see Peter fully dressed. “Ready? Wait where’s your suit?” The Queens resident asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Will replied as he pointed to the red band, “Right here boy genius,” He finished before the two boys headed for the door.

“How are we getting to… where are we going?” 

“We are taking a car to the airport. We have to stop Cap and his side from getting out of the country,” Peter nodded as they made it to their car with the help of Happy.

“Good luck, I’ll see you later,” He said as he shut the door behind Peter. There’s no going back now.

~ ~ ~

“All right, I've run out of patience. Underoos!” 

“Oh! That’s my cue!” Peter said excitedly to Will before he swung out of hiding and stole Cap’s shield right out of his hands. Will smiled proudly at the new superhero.

“Nice job, kid,” Tony complimented. Even though his smile was coved by his mask, Will knew Peter was grinning like an idiot. 

“Thanks. Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just the new suit… it's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's-It's perfect… Well, Will said it wasn’t, but I think it is. Thank you.”

“Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation.”

“Okay. Cap… Captain. Big fan, I'm Spider-Man,” Peter said as he waved cutely at Steve. Will’s heart fluttered at the sound of his name and that little wave. Damn him.

“Yeah, we'll talk about it later. Just…”

“Hey, everyone,” Peter said, greeting more than Cap this time.

Tony sighed, “…good job.” He then looked towards where Will was hiding, the younger Stark activated the rockets in his shoes. “Mini-Me!”

Will rolled his eyes as he rocketed into everyone’s view, “Hilarious nickname dad,” he landed on the truck next to Peter. He then turned his attention to Cap. “Hi, Steve.”

“Your dad drag you into this too?” The super soldier questioned.

Will jaw set, showing Peter a side of the Stark that he had not seen much of, “No one is forcing me to be here. You know I love you Rogers, but this has got to stop.”

“You've been busy brainwashing him,” Steve spat at Tony. 

Tony clenched his fists. Will almost spoke up for himself, but his father did it for him, “Brain- Brainwashing my son? How dare you even make that accusation Rogers. Besides, you act like everything I say doesn’t go in one of his ears and out the other,” Tony fired back, “ Like you’re one to talk anyway, you've been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place. I'm trying to keep… I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart.”

Steve held his ground, “You did that when you signed.”

Tony’s jaw set in the same way that his son’s had a few minutes before, “Alright, We're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us. NOW! Because it's us! Or a squad of J-SOC guys… with no compunction about being impolite.” 

The next set of actions were a complete blur to Will then, and they still are now. Cap seemed to receive the word he was waiting for as he burst into action. He started fighting the King of Wakanda. Will clicked the button on his wrist and his suit enveloped his body. Tight and way more streamlined than his old suit, it was definitely a fan favorite. He scanned the area for what he should do, noticing Peter’s absence, he was going to find the Spider, but while looking for him he saw Clint and Wanda making a b-line for the quinjet. Will used his boosters to run at them, Nat started to fight Clint while Will went for Wanda. 

This went on for a few minutes before things took a turn for the worst. Both sides lined up, looking intently at each other. Neither side backed down, so they started to fight again. However, this time, Will was going one on one with Captain America. This shouldn’t have been a big deal to him, the two had spared several times before, but Will knew that this was very different. Steve was not holding back, though it was obvious he didn’t want to hurt the young Stark. Steve also knew that Will was not going to hold back, he would do anything to make his father proud, even if he wouldn’t admit that fact out loud. The two went at it, Will only landing hits on the shield and Steve only hearing the same sounds as he hit Will’s suit. The two pulled back from fighting each other, several feet between them. Steve saw an opportunity at this point, throwing his shield at the teenage boy with all his might. He expected that he would catch it, or if he was lucky, it might throw him off balance. However, Steve Rogers soon realized he had made probably one of the biggest mistakes of his life. The shield’s side collided harshly with Will’s stomach, the clash of vibranium ringingly loudly throughout the airstrip. The boy was thrown back a good ten feet by the impact, smacking his back into a bunch of crates. Will frantically tried to catch his breath. He had to walk it off, he had to get back up. He wasn’t going to be taken down by a stupid hunk of metal.

The shield still rested on his front. He moved his arms to push it away, but he found a searing pain shot through him as he did so. He looked down to see his abdomen exposed, red with the color of the cut that the shield had made. His breathing was already ragged, but it got worse as he started to feel his body go into a panic attack. The sight and smell of broken skin brought back too many memories for his PTSD to handle. His vision blurred with his own tears as he collapsed his suit back into bracelet form. His body was numb, as much as he tried to move, he couldn’t get back up. He couldn’t just walk this one off. 

While everyone had heard the sound of the shield hitting his suit, no one had thought twice about it. It blended in with the rest of the noises from the battle. The next noise he made did not, “DAD! DAD HELP ME!” He cried out. He didn’t care about his cool guy facade, he didn’t care if he sounded like a baby, he needed his father at this moment. His brain was clouded with frightening images of the past and he needed to know his dad was okay and that he was going to be okay.

Tony turned to look and his eyes widened in horror. Peter froze when he first heard the sound, but his feet were soon moving without him thinking. They both abandoned the fighting to run to Will’s side. Tony didn’t have to ask what happened, he saw the bloody shield laying next to his son and he just knew. He opened his mask to get a better look at the wound. Steve tried to move closer and Tony told him off. He had hurt his son, there was nothing Steve could ever do to make up for that, ever. Tony turned his attention back to his son. Peter had taken his mask off, he was grasping Will’s left hand with both of his tightly. He was mumbling through tears that he was going to be okay. Tony took Will’s right hand, “it's okay, it’s okay,” he soothed, knowing that half the battle was going to be keeping him calm. 

Will looked between the two faces above him, “Peter… You’re hurt,” he mumbled out.

Peter knew the boy was referring to the black eye and bloody lip he had received from Captain America a little while ago, but he didn’t care at the moment, “Will…”

“Will focus on yourself, for now, okay, it’s not that deep, but you’re going to need to go to the hospital,” Tony answered for Peter who had no idea what to say, “I love you kiddo.”

“I love you to dad,” he choked. 

Tony turned his attention to Peter, “Peter I hate to put this on you, but do your best to keep him calm and put pressure on it. We’re going to get both of you out of here as soon as we can.”

“You got it, Mr. Stark!” Peter said as he wiped his tears away. He turned his attention back to Will as Tony left their sides. Peter shifted Will carefully so that he was resting in his arms instead of against broken boxes. Will was putting as much pressure as he could on the wound, his mind still spinning. 

The last thing that Will remembered from his time at the airport was Peter shouting at him to stay awake as Natasha came over. He was out like a light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the start of this story! The normal chapters probably won't be as long as this one, but anyways, I hope you stick around to read more! It's only going to get crazier from here!  
> -Cas (gumdropgabriel)


	2. Change of Pace

After the battle at the airport, Will realized it might be high time for a change. He had woken up with tight bandages around his middle, a worried Peter on his right, and a slightly concerned Natasha on his left. He was only out for a few hours, but he had never been in that much pain in his life. He knew at that moment he needed to slow down. In all the times he had been on crazy adventures with his father and the other Avengers, he had never once been injured past the point of a couple of cuts or a black eye. This was on a whole other level. It took him weeks to get back on his feet completely and of course, it was all over the news as soon as he was taken into that German hospital. Everyone knew what Captain America had done to the son of Iron Man. Will wasn’t mad at Steve anymore, he was just scared. Scared for weeks that if he stepped outside in his suit that he would be crunched by some high-level baddie. He stayed at home for a long time, but he realized how boring the four walls of his room were when Peter wasn’t visiting. That’s how he ended up here, parking his month old G-Wagon in front of Midtown School of Science. The eyes of several students were trained on his car as he turned it off, he didn’t even need to open the door to hear the whispering, he just knew. He had told Peter he was thinking about going to regular school, he had never been so he wanted to give it a shot. Peter was so excited by the idea, he jumped up and down while spouting off about how much he would like Ned and probably MJ as well. The school year had already started, but it wasn’t too far in yet, he was there way before Homecoming was to roll around.

He took a deep breath as he grabbed his backpack from the passenger seat and took off his sunglasses. He looked at himself in his car’s mirror, deciding to take the hood off of his dark locks as he stepped out of the car, “Oh my god! That’s Will Stark!” a random girl squeaked, causing everybody to look in his direction. 

There was a chorus of different questions in the air, some directed at him and some were friends asking each other, but his sharp hearing picked on everything. His walls went up, “The one and only,” He replied to the girl, shooting her a wink that made her swoon. 

“What’s a hotshot son of a billionaire doing at a regular high school?” A voice asked. When Will looked in the direction of the voice, he realized it was his best friend's bully Flash. He had seen pictures of this kid in Peter’s freshman yearbook, he remembered the details of his smug face. If he ever attempted to bully Peter in front of him, that would be the end of Eugene Thompson.

Will was going to shoot back a snarky answer, but he saw Peter smiling at him over Flash’s shoulder. Will smiled and waved back, “I don’t have time for questions right now,” he spat in Flash’s direction as he pushed passed him. All eyes were on him, “Hey Parker!” He shouted happily as he approached the sophomore.

Peter’s smile grew as Will made it over to him and Ned. Will pulled Peter in for a quick hug, causing Ned to make a confused squeaking sound, “Okay like I know you showed me those pictures of you and Will, but I was still totally convinced that they were photoshopped until this moment. You’re actually friends with the William Stark.”

Will chuckled as he pulled away from Peter. He didn’t notice, but Peter shot Ned a look, “Neddd,” He whined.

“You can call me Will, Peter’s told me a lot about you Ned,” Will said as he stuck his hand out for Ned to shake. The teen shook it vigorously. 

“Woah! Peter, you better have only said cool stuff. I have so many questions about you know… Like you and your life and how you and Peter became friends and-”

“I’ll answer any questions you have after school when there are no cameras around. I’m very choosy about what I let go online,” Will responded.

Ned nodded, “Oh of course! W-We could hangout at Peter’s after school?”

Will looked to Peter, “I’m okay with that if you are Parker.”

Peter had been lost in thought, but snapped back to reality when Will said his name, “W-What? Oh yeah, that’d be great!” He replied with a slightly fake smile.

“Are you alright Pete?” Will asked, his tone clearly filled with concern as he rested a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“Y-Yeah! I’m okay, it’s just that everyone is staring at us and it’s kind of weirding me out.”

Will looked over his shoulder to see pretty much the entire population of the school gathered a little ways away from them, staring and whispering. Will wrapped his arm around Peter’s shoulders, “Try not to overthink it, they’ll get used to me being here in a few days and all the hype will die down.”

Peter’s cheeks flushed red as the trio made their way into the school building, this was certainly going to be interesting.

~ ~ ~

A Week Later…

“Join me, and together… we can build my new Lego Death Star,” Ned said in his terrible attempt to mimic Emperor Palpatine as he approached Peter and Will’s lockers, which, so conveniently, are right next to each other. 

“What?” Peter asks as he turned more to face Ned.

“Sounds fun,” Will said with a smile, “I never really got to play with legos as a kid.”

“Seriously? Will Stark wants to play with children’s toys? So lame,” One of the cheerleaders snickered to a few of her friends. 

One of them slapped her on the shoulder, “Shut up Stephanie! He’s gonna hear you!” Will rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his friends. 

“That’s awesome! How many pieces?” Peter asked. 

“3,803!” Ned answered proudly. 

Will smiled as he watched Peter’s eyes light up, “That’s insane!”

“I know. Do you want to build it tonight?” Ned asked hopefully. 

“No, I can’t tonight. I’ve got the Stark-”

“Mm-hmm. Stark internship,” Ned replied, cutting Peter off before he could finish his excuse. Will knew the truth, Peter was swinging around the city every afternoon as Spider-Man, helping people as much as he could. Will was kind of annoyed by Peter’s behavior even though he knew the truth. Iron Boy couldn’t be seen flying around Queens every day with Spider-Man, that would cause too much commotion on top of him going to regular school. This meant he was seeing him about as much as Ned was… and it sucked.

“Yeah, exactly,” Peter replied awkwardly. Will knew he hated lying to Ned, but he was afraid that Ned might let the cat out of the bag if he found out. 

Will sighed as he and Peter closed their lockers, he shoved his hands in his pockets since he had managed to fit all his books in his backpack. “Always got that internship,” Ned said with a sigh.  
Peter shrugged, “Yeah, well, hopefully, soon it’ll lead to a real job with them.”

“Will why don’t you just give Peter a job? You own your own business, right? That would be so sweet.”

Will shrugged, he did own a company, but he didn’t do much of with work to run it. He worked much more closely with his charity campaigns, “I mean I could, but my dad and I’s companies are not really affiliated with one another aside from a few business deals, besides, I don’t actually make any of the employee related decisions except for deciding who’s my personal assistant and I’m sure Peter would much rather work with the cool tech stuff at my Father’s company than the clothing stuff at mine.”

“You have a personal assistant?” Ned asked.

“He has two, and there’s Friday who basically acts as his personal calendar,” Peter answered.

“Friday is the only reason I wake up for school on time. No normal alarm clock can wake me,” Will joked.

“No way that’s amazing! Do your assistants like wear those Bluetooth phones and tell you when your press conferences are?” Ned questioned.

“I more just text them updates and things to have Friday remind me about. They basically run things and take messages while I’m at school or doing other teenage things. One works with my clothing company while the other works with my charity campaigns,” Will explained.

“Oh… well anyways, if Peter did get a job with Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark would be all, ‘Good job on those spreadsheets, Peter. Here’s a gold coin.’ Because you know, you’d actually get paid for a job rather than an internship." Peter and Will both give him a confused look, “I don’t know how jobs work.”

Peter laughed lightly, “That’s exactly how they work.”

Will rolled his eyes, a playful smile on his face, “Clearly neither of you have ever had a job,” Will teased, “Well, unfortunately, this is where I have a different class than both of you, so I’ll see you guys later.”

“Okay! Bye Will! Can’t wait to build the Death Star with you!” Ned said as he waved to the older boy.

“Bye Will,” Peter stated simply with a small smile.

“Bye Ned, bye Parker!” Will replied before he turned his back completely to the pair. 

“So Peter, I’ll knock out the basic bones of the Death Star at my place. And, and then I’ll come by afterward…” Ned was still talking, but that’s all he heard of the conversation because his focus was on Will. The way he walked showed power and confidence, girls and guys alike swoon as he walks by and shoots them a smile. He was just so cool and good looking, Peter felt his cheeks glow red at the thought of walking down the hall hand in hand. “...because for the most part, the difficult thing is the base of it. The top half we can knock out in two hours, tops.”

“That’d be great…” Peter mumbled as the bell rang and Will disappeared around the corner. Peter would never say anything to his billionaire best friend, but he was pretty much head over heels for the guy.

~ ~ ~

“Did Will get a new jacket?” Peter asked as he watched Will talk with a few girls from the senior class, one of which was his childhood crush, Liz.

“No. We’ve seen that before, but never with that button down,” Ned answered. Peter and Ned observed Will closely for different reasons, but both of them were the reason that MJ rolled her eyes.

“We should probably stop staring before it gets creepy, though,” Peter replied as his eyes were still trained on Will.

MJ sighed, “Too late.” Peter and Ned turn towards the direction of the sound to find MJ sitting at the other end of their table. Peter blushes at the thought of her listening to that whole conversation. “You guys are losers.”

Ned looked at her confused, “But then why do you sit with us?”

MJ shrugged, “Because I don’t have any friends… but also because Will is cool and he always hangs out with you.”

“If you don’t have any friends than what am I? Loki after he tried to take over Earth?” Will asked as he came and sat down across from Peter. He set down his lunch box in front of him as MJ slid down the bench to be more in on the conversation.

“You consider us friends? I thought the great William Stark didn’t have friends,” MJ teased. A lot of the news coverage of his personal life only showed the shallow relations he had with other upper echelon teens and young adults. None of them showed this type of thing. 

Will chuckled, “I’ve got a solid three.”

Peter’s heart skipped a beat and Ned’s eyes went wide, “Woah cool! Glad we’re at the point where we are friends. I mean I thought we were, but it’s good to hear you say it. You’re all kinds of mysterious Will, it’s like you have some kind of magic spell on you that makes it impossible to tell what you’re thinking,” Ned said.

Will smirked as he lifted his soda from the table top, “Maybe I do, you never know,” He said before he drank a bit of the cool liquid.

Ned’s eyes went wide, “See that, that smirk right there. It’s impossible to know what you’re thinking when you do that. Teach me the ways of the cool dude oh master of skateboarding and fashion.”

Will laughed, “Ned you’re already cool in my book. Cool isn’t always flashy cars and fancy fashion, cool can be anything, including nerdy dudes who talk like you. Be yourself and the best kind of people will find your company amazing.”

“Wow actual inciteful advice from the billionaire skater boy, I’m impressed with you Stark,” MJ chimed in.

“As you should be,” He said with his same classic smirk.

“See there’s your ego peaking out again,” she countered.

“Hey you know I’m messing with you,” Will chuckled.

“And you know I’m messing with you,” MJ said, “You have the act of an egotistical billionaire down, but deep down you’re just a sweet down to earth type of guy.”

Will smiled, a light blush coming to his cheeks, “Shhh don’t blow my cover.” He was about to continue on, but he looked over to Peter. The boy was completely zoned out. He was staring intensely at his fingers, which he was picking at. An anxious tic that Will had discovered Peter after being friends for a little while. “Hey, Parker you okay? You’re awfully quiet,” Will asked with a concerned tone.

The sound of his name coming from Will made Peter snap out of his daze, “Huh? Oh yeah, I’m okay. Just a bit tired today,” He said with a soft smile. Peter was honestly saddened when looking at Will at this moment. Will was so perfect; tall, funny, sweet, and not to mention handsome. All of that was great, but the problem was Will’s uncanny ability to make anyone fall for him. Peter would be happy for his best friend if he ever did date someone, but every time he overheard some talking about how cute Will was it felt like he was being stabbed in the chest. This talk with MJ for instance, she wasn’t talking about how cute he is or anything, but Peter was pretty sure that they liked each other. He would be happy for both of them of course, but again, he shrivels and dies inside at the thought of Will being with someone else. He guessed that’s why he didn’t realize he had zoned out. He was so caught up in his feelings about Will that he forgot to talk to Will while he was right in front of him. 

“Are you sure?” Will asked.

“Definitely sure, don’t worry about me, Will. I just you know, need more sleep,” Peter offered.

Will seemed skeptical at first, but did, in the end, buy it, “Yeah that’s for sure, I expect not to get a 2 am video rant about how much you want to learn to skateboard tonight,” He said with a wink.

Peter turned bright red, “Will!”

Will shrugged, yet another of his smirks plastered on his face, “Your fault for worrying me, Parker.”

Peter gulped, Will was worried about me?

~ ~ ~

“Let’s move to the next question,” Liz states as the Academic Decathlon team meeting droned on for way too long. “What is the heaviest naturally-occurring element?”

“Hydrogen’s the lightest. That’s not the question. Okay. Yeah,” Charles answers frantically. 

“Uranium,” Will stated easily. 

Liz smiled at him, “That is correct. Glad to have you on the team Will.”

“Glad to be here,” He replied. Cindy, who had been searching the books, glared at him. He just gave her a smile in return, he couldn’t help knowing the answer faster.

Honestly, though, he was a bit surprised at his ability to pay attention. Peter was talking with the teacher a little ways away and it was concerning him. He knew Peter had been quitting his clubs recently, but Will really only joined because Peter, Ned, and MJ all went to the meetings. 

“Please open your books to page ten,” Liz commanded, pulling Will from his worries. He was paying close attention to her until Flash decided to open his big mouth.

“You’ve never even been in the same room as Tony Stark.”

Will laughed hitting the bell in front of him, “That’s incorrect. Peter and I went on vacation a while back with my dad.”

Flash’s jaw dropped, “You took him on vacation? To where?” 

“That’s really none of your business Flash, now is it?” Will teased. 

Cindy looked between Flash, Will, and Peter confused, “Wait, what’s happening?”

“Peter’s not going to Washington,” Sally, who had been lying on her stomach and studying notes, chimed in.

Cindy started to panic, “No. No, no, no, no, no. No. No.”

Abe rung the bell, “Why not?”

Liz sighed, “Really? Right before nationals?”

“He already quit marching band and robotics lab,” MJ chipped in. Everyone looked over towards MJ a bit confused. She was leaning against the wall with a book in her hands. “I’m not obsessed with him. Just very observant.”

“Flash, you’re in for Peter,” Liz stated.

“Ooh, I don’t know. I gotta check my calendar first. I got a hot date with Black Widow coming up,” Flash teased, seeming to have come back from Will’s slam. Will was too shocked to even respond at this point. 

Abe rung the bell again, “That is false.”

Mr. Harrington sighed, “What did I tell you about using the bell for comedic purposes?”

Will was really zoned out for the last portion of the class. He didn’t understand Peter at all with this. He understood that he wanted to help people, that part was fine. However, it should not be messing this much with his school work and activities. He didn’t have a job to do for Will’s dad, he shouldn’t be quitting all these things, especially not when he knew that Will only joined to hang out with him. It really ticked him off. He needed to talk to Peter about this, there was still a chance he could get his spot back from Flash. When the bell rang to leave class, Will quickly packed up his things and walked over to Peter, “Hey Parker, we need to have a little chat before we go to our next classes.”

Peter looked at him confused as he zipped up his backpack, “What’s wrong Will?”

“Just come with me okay?” Will said as he started to walk towards the exit. MJ and Ned looked at each other confused as Peter quickly followed Will out into the hall.  
Will walked quickly, Peter trailing behind him. No one seemed to notice the two boys as they ducked into the boys’ bathroom. Will dropped his slightly smiley facade he had been putting on in the hallway. After checking that no one else was in the room, he crossed his arms over his chest, “Seriously? What the hell Peter?” 

Peter gave him another confused look, “Why are you mad?”

Will rolled his eyes, “I’m not mad I’m just annoyed. I came to this school, yeah to see what it was like, but mainly to spend time with my best friend that I don’t see nearly enough. Then as soon as I get here and join the same group you quit it? Peter I was looking forward to going to Washington with you, Ned, and MJ. You know there’s no reason for you not to go right?”

“But if your dad needs m-”

“He’s not going to need you, Peter! My dad only asked for your help with Berlin because that could have been a world-ending crisis. Nothing like that is going to happen between now and Nationals, so come on there’s still time. If you go back and talk to the teacher I’m sure he’ll let you have your-”

“I don’t want my spot back Will. Look, I love that you’ve started coming here, really. Having you around every day for lunch and electives is great, but you don’t really get a say in what I do. It’s my life and I’m going to do what I want with my free time,” Peter shoot back. He felt a little bad about his harsh words, but he was kind of annoyed about Will putting in his two cents when he didn’t ask for it. 

Will gave him a shocked look, “I’m not trying to tell you what to do, I’m just saying you need to think these decisions through. Things like the decathlon will look good on your college applications and-”

“Honestly I don’t know if I even want to go to college anymore. I kinda just wanna be a hero you know?” Peter answered honestly.

“Damn it, Peter, you have got to let me finish talking,” Will took a deep breath, “and I know you still want to do hero stuff, that’s cool. It’s great that you want to help people, but being a hero isn’t a paid job. Bruce makes his money doing science stuff with my dad, my dad makes money from his businesses, and Nat does things I’m not supposed to know about. The sum of it all is being a hero isn’t a full-time job for pretty much anyone and you have to have a backup plan. Going to college isn't bad even if you want to be a hero… besides, as I said… I really just wanna spend time with you Peter and that trip to Washington is going to be hella lame without you… So what do you say? Why don’t we run back and tell Mr. whatever ever the hell his name is that you changed your mind?”

“No Will, just no,” Peter said dryly as he crossed his arms. Peter didn’t originally plan on getting heated when this conversation started, but that seemed to be the direction it was going. 

It was Will’s turn to give him a confused look, “What?”

“I appreciate you trying to help me, but you need to back off. You’re only a year older than me so there’s really no way that you know that much more than me so stop acting like it! I’m not joining the decathlon again alright? You’ll have a fine trip without me, in fact, I’m sure MJ will love to have some alone time with you,” Peter answered his jealousy getting the best of him. He knew he was going to regret talking to Will like this later, but right now he just needed to get his feelings out.

“What the hell are you talking about Peter?” Will asked. Peter could hear the hurt and confusion in his voice.

“Just leave me alone about it Will,” Peter said as he turned around and left the bathroom as the late bell rang. Peter felt the pang of guilt hit his chest as he walked away, but he didn’t have the guts to turn back around. 

Will stood in silence for a minute completely in shock. He just wanted to help Peter make good life choices and spend time with him, why did that get so heated? Why did their whole dynamic change so suddenly? Was Will in the wrong for giving Peter his opinion on all of this? He didn’t know what to do, he was new to this whole real friendship and crush thing. He was so overwhelmed and confused he just wanted to curl up into a ball.

Will debated going to his next class, but he felt the tears welling in his eyes and decided going into the nearest stall was the better option.


	3. One Fateful Phone Call

Will and Peter almost always met at their lockers to say goodbye for the day before Peter rushed off to be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but Will saw no sign of the Spiderling when he made it to that hallway. He let out a long sigh, feeling the eyes of people sharing space with him watching his actions closely. He wanted to put his walls up, put on a fake smile that would fool them all into thinking that he was okay, but he very clearly wasn’t okay. 

He turned the lock to the numbers of his combination, hoping a bunch more fan letters wouldn’t fall out like they had earlier. He had organized all the ones he had received into neat piles inside the small metal box, but he doubted he would go through them all. How could these people claim to love in him deep and/or romantic way when they’ve never spoken to him?   
His nightmare came true when he opened the door and about 10 more letters than the ones that were already in there came tumbling out. He quickly shut the door again, some of the letters fluttered to the floor while others were squished in the small space between the closed door and the floor of the locker. He banged his forehead against the door harshly, making a loud clanging sound that caught the attention of a few people, but most ignored his antics. He could feel the anxiety and stress building up in his system, he had reached his max for the day about an hour ago and he was completely shutting down. A quiet, yet concerned voice broke through to him, “Will, are you okay?” It asked.

Will didn’t bother to move his head from the locker, he knew who it was. “I’m fine MJ,” He said in a harsher tone than he meant to. 

She raised an eyebrow at him, “You don’t sound or look fine. What’s going on Stark? Your fangirl’s relentlessness finally getting to you?” She joshed. Normally he would laugh at a comment like that, but he couldn’t seem to find a single chuckle in his system. “Come on, tell me what’s going on.”

“I appreciate your concern MJ, but I just want to go home and be alone at the moment,” Will said as moved back to open his locker once again. He picked the letters up off the ground and threw them plus the ones still in his locker into his backpack. 

She crossed her arms at his response, “A little birdie told me you missed your last few periods after decathlon practice. You left with Peter and then no one saw you until now. This has something to do with him doesn’t it?” Will slammed his locker door shut, locking it quickly before turning to look MJ in the eye for the first time. She could see the fading redness and puffiness in his normally bright brown eyes. “Will…” She trailed, not knowing what to say. She never expected this to be a situation she would encounter. 

“Don’t ask again MJ, I’m going home,” He stated coldly before walking past her towards the main doors of the school. She knew she had to get to the bottom of this. What the hell had Peter done to make William Stark cry?

Will continued out the doors without stopping or looking back at his friend. He was so emotionally drained he didn’t care anymore. He wanted today to be over, he wanted to forget today. For a second he considered going back to his old habits, but he fought against the overwhelming urge. He just hoped he could do that until he fell asleep. He pulled his cars keys out of the small front pocket of his bag and clicked the button to unlock it. He haphazardly threw his stuff in the passager seat before sinking low into the driver’s seat. He locked the doors back as he turned the car on. It was going to be a long drive home.

He was about to put the car in reverse, but his phone buzzed from his front pocket. He whipped it out, his heart leaping at the thought of Peter calling him to talk things through. He was shocked by the caller ID though. “Harry Osborn,” Will spat. The last thing he needed today was to talk to this prick, but hey, today couldn’t get any worse right?

Will pressed the accept button and put the phone to his ear, “What the hell do you want Osborn?”

“Wow, that’s no way to greet an old friend Will,” Harry said in a smooth voice.

“You and I are not friends Harry,” Will said, “What do you want?”

“To catch up, you haven’t been coming to any parties in the last 10 months or so. That’s right around when you met Peter Parker isn’t it Stark?” Harry asked. Will could hear the smirk in his voice. 

“Leave Peter out of this you egotistical sack of shit,” Will snapped.

Harry chuckled on the other end of the line, “So it is about him, isn’t it? Listen, Will, I have a deal to propose that you just can’t say no to.” Will listened intently, he may be mad at Peter, but there was no way he was getting him involved with Harry. “When I heard that you became friends with some common boy from Queens, I had to admit that I was surprised, but not nearly as surprised as when I heard that you had started Midtown school of Science. Seems like you decided to learn something for once instead of following your old man around like a lost puppy. I guess I never expected you to be the type to sober up. I gotta say, you never cease to surprise me with your lameness William.”

“Get to the point Osborn. I don’t have time for your games today,” Will seethed.

“Why? Are you missing recess because you’re on the phone with me? Poor baby Stark,” Harry teased. Will rolled his eyes as he heard another chuckle coming from Harry. “Listen very closely Will, if you don’t do exactly as I say, I will tell the press about everything that you have done. Everything down to the number of shots you took the last time I saw you.”

Will panicked for a split second, but kept his cool, “Ha that’s a two-way street dumbass. I just go to the paps and tell them all about that little birthday bash you threw for yourself last year. It takes both hands to count the number of illegal shit that happened according to Molly, and we both know that the press will hang off every word she says,” Will fired back.

Will could hear Harry grit his teeth, “Okay Starkshit, if you wanna play, let’s play. If you don’t take my deal and do what I say, I will tell your little midtown friends about all your addiction issues and the shit you did in your party days. We’ll see if your Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones, and your precious Peter Parker will want to be friends with you then.”

Will clenched his jaw, the tears that had left him a while ago were threatening to spill once again. He was so angry with Peter, but he and the other couldn’t find out, they just couldn’t. They couldn’t know about the parties, the binge drinking, and the late nights of the ‘do my friends hate me or do I just need to go to sleep’ game. They were the only real friends he had ever had. He couldn’t lose them because of the narcissistic ass that was Harry Osborn. No, Will would not go down like that. “What do you want me to do Harry?”

Will could feel Harry’s smirk again. He hated the feeling, “Keep your phone on, I’ll be sending you dates. You’re going to be rejoining the party life, whether you like it or not.”

The line went dead.

Will let out a breath he had been holding in almost the whole conversation before smacking his dashboard as hard as he could with both of his hands. He repeated the action a few times before he let out a wailing sob, “DAMN YOU OSBORN!” He screamed within the confines of his car. No one on the outside had any clue that Will Stark was losing his mind. 

~ ~ ~

After Will left, MJ went to find Peter. She knew he usually bolted out right after school, but she hoped she would be able to talk to him in person about all of this. She wasn’t nosey, she just was trying to help her friends. If Will was in that bad of shape, who knows what Peter might look like. While trying to find the nerdy boy, she ended up finding Ned. “Have you seen Peter anywhere?” She asked.

He gave her a confused look, “No, why? What’s going on?”

“Honestly I’m not sure, but Will was pretty upset when I saw him a few minutes ago and I overheard some of the junior girls saying he skipped his classes after decathlon practice,” She answered.

“That doesn’t sound like him at all, but what does that have to do with Peter?” He countered.

She rolled her eyes, “Peter was the last one to see him before he cut class, Ned. Whatever happened between them wasn’t good and we need to find Peter because it’s going to be way easier to get him to talk about it than it is Will.”

“Well, I’m supposed to go over to his apartment later after I set up the basics of my new Lego Death Star. He, Will, and I are going to do the top half of it together,” Ned explained.  
“With how Will looked I doubt he’ll be there Ned, but maybe you can get Peter to open up?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“Good, I’ll try to get a hold of him before then and see if he’ll tell me, if he doesn’t then you try to get it out of him later. See ya tomorrow Ned!” MJ said as she started to walk away.  
“Wait! MJ!” Ned exclaimed as he grabbed her shoulder. She turned back towards him in confusion.

“What is it?”

“I umm… I’m not really good with feelings or understanding flirting, but…” He looked around to see if anyone was listening. The halls had cleared out a bit, and no one who was left seemed to be giving them a second glance. “I think they like each other, do you?” 

MJ seemed taken back by the question at first and Ned wondered if he had said something wrong, but then MJ broke into a smile. “I mean, I’ve only seen them interact with each other for a week, but they’ve been friends for almost a year and they are way closer than friends who have known each other for a year.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Has Peter said anything that made you think that?”

“No, not in particular, but when Will says something flirty, compliments him, or says that he was worried about him, it’s like it was with Liz, but times a million. Basically, I know my best friend, he’s got a crush.”

MJ nodded, “and as for Will, he came to this school because he wanted to spend more time with Peter, no matter what he tells the press, that’s obviously the reason.”

“We need to get them together MJ! This is project Weter, wait no that sounds gross. Pill? Petill? Starker?”

“Forget the ship names, Ned! I have a feeling they’re not talking right now, let’s just get them back on talking terms and then go from there. Besides, Pill is weird, Petill sounds like some food, and Starker sounds like Stalker,” MJ replied.

“You’re right,” Ned said with a sigh before perking up and facing his hand down, flat, and out in front of him. 

“What are you doing?” MJ inquired.

“Put your hand in! We’re gonna say ‘friendship fixers’ on the count of three!” Ned said with a dork smile.

MJ chuckled, “Absolutely not, but I will give you a fist bump,” MJ said as she stuck out her fist.

Ned hit his fist gently against hers, “Friendship fixers!”

~ ~ ~

Will pulled into his parking spot outside of the Avengers Compound. He grabbed his back roughly and made his way towards the front door. Once inside, he knew exactly where he was going; the gym. He hoped he wouldn’t run into anyone on the way there, but to his luck, Wanda, Vision, Happy, and Pepper were all in the kitchen. “Hey Will, how was your day at school?” Pepper asked, she was the first one to notice his presence, but not his current state. He just wanted to walk past them, ignore them completely, but he knew that would set off an alarm.   
“What’s wrong?” Wanda asked, “Your eyes are all puffy.”

“I’m fine. I’ll be down in the gym if anyone needs me,” He responded a little too quickly. He tried to walk past them to get to the stairs that led down to the gym, but Pepper grabbed his shoulders.

“Come on you know that’s not how we do things anymore,” she scolded lightly, “Tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s nothing Pepper. I’m just tired is all,” He replied as he shrugged her hands off of his shoulders. He then proceeded to walk briskly past her, leaving the four people still in the room to send each other concerned looks. He didn’t see any of that though, he was too caught up in his own thoughts to worry about what they were thinking.

Once down in the gym, he threw his bag onto the floor and didn’t bother changing or properly preparing himself. He honestly didn’t even think about it. He just walked over to the punching bag that was hanging in the near center of the room. He often worked out when he felt upset, but he only used the punching bag on the worst days. He started hitting it with all his might, not planning on stopping anytime soon.


	4. Talk Me Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT CHAPTER NOTE!  
> There are a few times where the characters text back and forth, here's a key to who's who (I tried to make it as true to character as possible) 
> 
> Names in Will’s Phone  
> Peter = bug boi 🕷️❤️  
> MJ = hermione freakin granger 🧠🎨   
> Ned = star wars trash 🛸🌌   
> Will (name for himself): strongest avenger 🛹💥 
> 
> Names in Ned’s phone  
> Peter = my best friend is spider-man  
> Will = Future Stark CEO  
> MJ = Ms. “I don’t have friends”  
> Ned (name for himself): Ned Solo 
> 
> **ALSO IMPORTANT**   
> There are a few lyrics from the song "Talk Me Down" by Troye Sivan in this chapter. I do not own those lyrics/the song, the song just fits so well to Will's feelings for Peter that I wanted to use a few of the lines in the chapter. Please go listen to the song and all of the other ones mentioned! They are all wonderful!

Pepper bit her lip as she watched the young Stark go. When he was out of her sight she turned to the others in the room, “That’s not good,” She mumbled.

“Yeah. What happened at school today that caused him to be in such a bad mood?” Wanda asked. 

Pepper was more concerned than the young witch because she had seen how bad Will could get when he was upset. He had been doing so well recently, no more parties, no more drinking. She was so excited that she didn’t need to tell Tony about it, why tell him about something that was no longer an issue? But now, she was worried he was starting to go back down that path. Will was very strong, but if someone knew how to push his buttons, then it was over. “What are you thinking about?” Happy asked. 

“Friday, pull up the security cam in the gym,” She said, completely ignoring Happy. 

“Right away Ms. Potts,” he replied, pulling up the stream on the tv in the connected living room. The stream showed Will, hitting the punching bag relentlessly. Pepper knew he only used that thing on the worst days, if he just wanted to work out he’d lift weights, run, or spar if someone else was around. This might be worse than she originally thought. 

“That’s not good,” Happy said with what could be mistaken as a plain tone, but Pepper could hear the concern. Happy was the only other person who knew about Will’s… issues. 

“Very not good,” Pepper responded.

“What’s not good? A new episode of that show you’ve been trying to get me to watch? I told you that it wasn’t worth-” Tony had walked in at the wrong time. He started off by being his usual self, but the second his eyes registered that it was Will on the screen, he dropped the bottle of water he had been carrying. He knew that Will had trouble with his emotions because of things from his past, but he hadn’t seen him like this in almost a year. “God damn it, kid,” Tony cursed under his breath as he ran towards the gym.

He stopped for a moment when he got to the door, trying to process what the best approach here was. He knew whatever he did, he had to keep it together. He took a deep breath before opening the door, “Ace,” He said calmly as he entered the room, alerting the boy that he was there. Will heard the nickname, but it didn’t register. He didn’t stop what he was doing, he couldn’t stop what he was doing. “Will,” his dad called, but again there was no response.

“Okay we’re done here,” Tony said as he grabbed both of Will’s forearms from behind. Will hadn’t even realized that he was there. 

“Let go,” Will said flatly.

“Not gonna happen Ace,” Tony replied as he guided Will over to the bench on the left wall of the room. He sat his son down before sitting down next to him, moving his hands down to his son’s bloody ones. His knuckles were red, black, and blue from the strength behind his punches. His old man sighed before letting go of his hands gently and walking over to the first aid kit that was on the wall near the bench. Tony grabbed everything he would need to clean the wounds and then headed back to his spot on the bench. “You know this isn’t going to be pleasant.”

“Mmm,” Will hummed, showing that he understood. He wouldn’t look at his dad, his eyes were trained on his lap and his head hung low. It wasn’t out of shame, it was out of sadness and confused emotions. 

“Do you want to tell me what this is about?” Tony asked as he started to clean out the cuts. His son didn’t respond to the question, though he didn’t expect him too, he was hoping he would explain himself. Will’s only action was biting down hard on his lip as Tony used alcohol to clean out his wounds. “It’s okay Will. You don’t have to talk about it right now if you don’t want to.”

“Mmkay…” Will answered quietly. Tony could tell he was slipping into one of his silent moods. He’d have to talk to him later if he had any chance of finding out what sent Will down this spiral.

Tony wrapped his son’s hands up in bandages before helping him to stand up, “Come on Kid, let’s get you up to your room.”

Will nodded slightly as he leaned most of his weight against his father. Tony readjusted so he was able to hold almost all of Will’s weight and walk at the same time. The stairs up to the main floor were the hardest part, but after a few minutes of struggling, they managed. Tony and Will both felt eyes on them as the entered the main part of the compound, but they both ignored them. Tony walked Will away from the kitchen area, taking the slightly longer way to his room, but it was definitely the right choice. Will pulled away from his dad’s grasp as they reached his door. The younger Stark said nothing as he walked into the darkened room and flopped face first onto the bed. He curled himself up into a tiny ball in seconds. He was facing away from his father, scared if he looked into his eyes that he might start crying again. He heard Tony sigh softly before his favorite fluffy blanket was placed over his body. He snuggled into it, silently thanking his dad for the sweet gesture. Tony thought about saying something, but no words found their way to his vocal cords. The older Stark shut the door behind him and left the boy to his thoughts.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Will grabbed his phone from his pocket. His fingers, thanks to their muscle memory, instantly opened up Peter’s texts. He thought about it for a split second. He wanted to check in on Peter, talk to him again, hear his laugh and calming voice, but after hovering his thumbs aimlessly over the keyboard he closed Peter’s texts and opened MJ’s. 

TODAY 6:32 PM

strongest avenger 🛹💥: hey MJ I need a favor

hermione freakin granger 🧠🎨: what is it, Will? If you need to talk you know I’ll listen.

strongest avenger 🛹💥: send me the gayest songs you know

hermione freakin granger 🧠🎨: that's a weird request

strongest avenger 🛹💥: just help me out here

hermione freakin granger 🧠🎨: anything by Troye Sivan should do, also maybe give girls/girls/boys by Panic! a try

strongest avenger 🛹💥: you're the best

strongest avenger 🛹💥: ttyl

hermione freakin granger 🧠🎨: Will, come on. Talk to me man

Will closed MJ’s messages and opened up his iTunes app. He looked up Troye Sivan and added all of his “Blue Neighborhood” album as well as “Happy Little Pill”, “Fun”, and “Girls/Girls/Boys” to a playlist that he had already created. It already consisted of songs like “Gorgeous” by Taylor Swift, “Lovely” by Twenty One Pilots, and “Miss You” by Louis Tomlinson. He looked over the playlist one more time before deciding he was satisfied with it. The playlist simply titled “bug boi mix” was complete for now. Will reached over and grabbed his headphones from the top drawer of his nightstand before hitting shuffle. 

“I wanna sleep next to you  
But that's all I wanna do right now  
And I wanna come home to you  
But home is just a room full of my safest sounds  
'Cause you know that I can't trust myself with my three A.M. shadow  
I'd rather fuel a fantasy than deal with this alone  
I wanna sleep next to you  
But that's all I wanna do right now  
So come over now and talk me down”

Will listen to the lyrics of "Talk Me Down" carefully, wondering how a song written by another person could fit his situation so well. He closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles, focusing all his thoughts on the sounds coming through his headphones.

~ ~ ~

“No, put that down. That’s worth more than you or me,” Happy scolded one of the movers as his phone started to ring. Between worrying about Will and moving day coming up so soon, he was stressed beyond belief. “Yeah?”

Peter started telling his story as quickly as possible as soon as the security guard answered, “Happy, the craziest thing just happened to me. These guys were robbing an ATM with these high tech weapons-” 

Happy let out a sigh, “Hey, take a breath, okay? I don’t have time for ATM robberies…”

“Yeah, but-”

“...or the thoughtful notes you leave behind. I have moving day to worry about. Everything’s gotta be out of here by next week.”

“Yeah, don’t you watch the news? Tony sold Avengers Tower. We’re relocating to a new facility upstate where, hopefully, the cell service is much worse,” Happy replied.

Peter’s face held a sad expression, “But what about me?”

Happy took his turn to be confused, “What about you?”

Peter sat down on a streetlamp, realizing he needed a breather. “Well, what if Mr. Stark needs me or something, I don’t know, something big goes down? Can I please just talk to Mr. Stark?”

“Look, just stay away from anything too dangerous. I’m responsible for making sure you’re responsible, okay?

Peter leaped down into the alley he stashed his backpack in. He let out a sigh as he realized it was gone again. “I am responsible. I- Oh, crap. My backpack’s gone.”

“That doesn’t sound responsible.”

“I’ll call you back.”

“Wait, Peter,” Happy responded. He had been debating this mentally ever since he realized it was the boy on the other end of the phone. 

“What is it Happy?” Peter asked, noticing the tone of Happy’s voice.

“Did something happen at school today?” He asked.

Peter furrowed his eyebrows, “What? Why do you ask?”

“Will seemed unusually upset today when he got home. I thought you might know something about it,” Happy replied cautiously. Peter stopped moving and bit his bottom lip. Will had gone home upset because of him and he knew it. He didn’t want to tell Happy, but he knew that he probably should. “Kid?”

“I uh… Will and I got into a fight today,” Peter answered honestly. 

Happy sucked in a breath. That wasn’t good at all, “What was it about?”

“We-” Peter was about to tell Happy everything that had happened today, but he noticed how where his backpack had been there was only a bit of residue left from all of the webs he has used to stick it to the wall, “need to fix the formula,” he mumbled.

“What?”

“I’m really going to have to call you back,” Peter replied before hanging up the phone.

Happy pulled the phone away from his ear to make sure that Peter had really ended the call. He rolled his eyes at the screen before pressing the button to call Tony, who he had on speed dial. 

“What is it Happy I’m a little busy stressing out about my son,” Tony said as the phone clicked in.

“It’s about your son Tony. I just got off the phone with Peter Parker. Something is going on on his end because he hung up on me before we finished our conversation, but he did manage to tell me that he and Will got into a fight today,” Happy explained.

Tony stopped pacing around the room, catching the attention of Pepper was sitting in a chair at the opposite side of the kitchen counter. “Did he tell you what it was about?”

“He was about to, but like I said something happened on his end and he hung up on me,” Happy replied.

Tony let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in hopes of alleviating some of the tension that was building up there. “Thanks, Happy,” He said before hanging up the phone. He stared at it for a minute. What could they have possibly argued about that made Will that upset?

“What happened? Something wrong with Moving Day prep?” Pepper asked.

“No, Happy may have discovered the reason for Will’s behavior. Apparently, he and Peter Parker got into a fight at school today. Happy didn’t know what it was about, but I’m sure that’s at least part of what caused this,” Tony explained.

Pepper nodded before taking a sip of the water that sat in front of her on the counter. She was debating what to say next. “Maybe you should do talk to him about it?”

Tony shot her a confused look, “What? Why me?”

“You are his dad after all. He might open up to you if you’re nice about it,” Pepper shrugged.

Tony thought about it for a second, “Alright, but if this goes south I’m blaming you,” he said as he left the room. The short walk to Will’s room felt long, but he was soon lightly knocking on the boy’s door. “Hey, Ace? Can we talk?”

There were some shuffling noises coming from inside the room before Tony heard a small “Sure” from Will. 

Tony pushed the door open slowly, he saw a human-shaped lump covered in blankets sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the bed from the door. He approached the boy quietly before sitting down on the floor next to him with a low groan, “My bones don’t work as well as they used to.”

That earned a chuckle from Will, “Wow, is the old man finally admitting he’s old?”

“See there’s that sarcastic wit that I didn’t miss,” Tony joked, “But really Kid, I know I’m not one for talking about my feelings, but this… this isn’t okay and I know that you know that deep down. So, we are going to sit here until we both talk about what we are feeling right now.”

Will groaned, throwing his head back against the bed in annoyance, “You are not my therapist dad!”

“No, but your next appointment isn’t until Wednesday. So, what’s this about Ace?” Tony asked, prying for information. Will did nothing, but sigh at him and adjusted so his knees were folded into his stomach. “Okay let me rephrase the question; is this about Peter Parker?”

Will tensed up at the sudden question. He had managed to keep the tears in since they stopped in the car, but at the sound of Peter’s name, the dam broke. He leaned into his dad’s side in defeat, the tears rushing down his cheeks. His dad put an arm awkwardly around his shoulders. He had no idea what was really running through the younger Stark’s head. Of course, Will was upset about his fight with Peter, but he was also being cornered by Harry. He couldn’t let Peter and the others find out about what he used to be like. Then again… it wouldn’t really matter if they didn’t make up. “It’s okay Kid, I’m sure the fight isn’t as bad as you think it is.” Will was going to ask how even knew about that, but his phone was getting so many texts it almost vibrated off the nightstand he had placed it on. “Maybe you should answer that?”

“Yeah…” Will mumbled, reaching up to grab his phone. 

TODAY 7:43 PM

star wars trash 🛸🌌: WILL

star wars trash 🛸🌌: OH MY GOD

star wars trash 🛸🌌: YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE THIS

star wars trash 🛸🌌: PETER

star wars trash 🛸🌌: PETER IS SPIDER-MAN

Will stared down at his phone in shock, trying to process what the best thing to say would be. He knew it would be best to be honest with him, even if he questioned why Peter told him and not Ned. Then again, what did Peter even do for Ned to find out? He definitely didn’t tell him outright. 

strongest avenger 🛹💥: I know Ned. Did he tell you?

star wars trash 🛸🌌: oh

star wars trash 🛸🌌: well I kinda was just waiting for him because we were all supposed to work on the Death Star tonight and he wasn’t back yet

star wars trash 🛸🌌: and he climbed through the window and stuck to the ceiling while wearing the Spider-Man suit

strongest avenger 🛹💥: oh yeah that’s a dead give away lol

star wars trash 🛸🌌: lol yeah

star wars trash 🛸🌌: He just got back from fighting the Avengers in a bank here in Queens!!

strongest avenger 🛹💥: He what?

Will made a face at the phone as he sent that text, Tony caught a glace of it. “What’s going on?” 

“Peter fought with the Avengers in a bank in Queens?” Will stated more as a question than something he was telling.

It was Tony’s turn to scrunch his face up in confusion, “He what?”

“That’s exactly what I asked.”

TODAY 7:49 PM

star wars trash 🛸🌌: Yeah and they had these high tech weapons that destroyed the sandwich shop across the street

strongest avenger 🛹💥: Is he okay?

star wars trash 🛸🌌: Yeah he’s okay, more curious about the weapons and worried about you than anything

Will’s face scrunched up in confusion again, but Tony decided not to question it. He wasn’t even sure who Will was texting at this point. Who the hell was star wars trash?

strongest avenger 🛹💥: omw

star wars trash 🛸🌌: what?

strongest avenger 🛹💥: I’m on my way

star wars trash 🛸🌌: I got that, but why?

strongest avenger 🛹💥: I’ll see you asap Ned

Will pulled back from his dad and the man took his arm off the boy’s shoulders. He shoved his phone in his back pocket as he stood up. “Where are you running off to?”

“Peter was in a serious fight with some robbers today. I’m going to ride over to Queens and see if he’s alright,” Will explained as he headed towards his closet. 

“What happened to being upset with him?” Tony asked, crossing his arms as he watched his son’s actions closely. 

Will quickly looked at his old man, but upon seeing the look of disdain on his face he went back to picking out a shirt. He ended up pulling out a black graphic Star Wars t-shirt that Peter got him. “Just because I’m going to see him doesn’t mean I’m not mad at him… He could have gotten hurt Dad… He could have died and I wouldn’t have been there to help just because we were arguing over something stupid. I could never forgive myself if that happened.”

Tony let out a sigh, his feature softening up as he moved towards Will. He patted his son on the shoulder as if to show that he was proud of him, “Come on Ace, I’ll give you a ride.”

~ ~ ~

“Okay Peter I know we have a lot to talk about, like trust me I have plenty of questions, but I may have just told Will what happened and he may or may not be on his way here now,” Ned said, his words getting closer together and higher in pitch as he got towards the end of the sentence. 

Peter whipped his whole body around to face his friend who was sitting on the edge of his bed. He had been digging through his draw for a pajama shirt when Ned explained the current situation, “Ned please tell me you’re joking.”

Ned smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, “Wish I was, but nope your knight in a shining iron boy suit is on his way here right now.”

Peter banged his head against the wall near his dresser, “Why did you tell him, Ned? You know he worries about everything! Also, what do you mean by that? My ‘knight in a shining iron boy suit’?”

Ned rolled his eyes, “It’s pretty obvious how he feels about you, he doesn’t worry me and MJ like he does you.”

“It’s because I’m a superhero Ned, not because he likes me any more than he does you,” Peter explained as his cheeks turned pink. He didn’t want to say MJ too because all he could think about was their fight earlier. He really wasn’t sure how Will felt about MJ.

“What about you then?” Ned asked. 

Peter scrunched his face up in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“How do you feel about Will?” Ned asked. Peter turned completely away from him as his face glowed hot with the heat of embarrassment, “Come on Peter, I’m your best friend other than him. You gotta let me in!”

Peter sighed, “I like him.”

“What?” Ned asked with an excited grin.

“I said I like him alright!” Peter shouted a little too loudly. He clapped his hand over his mouth and hoped that May didn’t hear him. 

After a few seconds of listening for her footsteps, Ned laughed, “I know, I just wanted to hear you say it twice. Double the confirmation you know?”

Peter groaned, “Ugh! You’ve been spending way to much time with MJ!”

Ned laughed again and waited for Peter to go back to changing before looking at his phone. 

TODAY 7:56 PM

Ned Solo: MJ YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE IT

Ned Solo: I GOT PETER TO ADMIT HE LIKES WILL

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: Amazing! On to the hard part

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: Getting Will to admit that he likes Peter

Ned Solo: Oh

Ned Solo: Right

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: Don’t panic. I’ll take care of getting him to talk

Ned Solo: How are you going to do that?

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: Will has a tough outer exterior, but once I can get close enough to him I’m sure I can get him to tell me

Ned Solo: Good luck with that

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: It’ll be easy once we get them talking to each other again

Ned Solo: Oh yeah! I’m currently at Peter’s and Will is on his way over

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: How’d that happen?

Ned Solo: It’s complicated

Ned felt his phone vibrate again, but the sound of Peter’s voice pulled him from the text conversation, “Who are you texting? I think I’ve ever seen you type that fast.”

“Oh ahh… I was just telling MJ that Will was coming over. She’s happy that you guys are gonna makeup,” Ned said with a smile.

Peter’s heart dropped to his stomach, right. Will coming over met they were going to have to talk things out. Peter pulled on one of the Arc Clothing promotional shirts that Will had given him a few months ago when his new line had launched. “What do I even say, Ned?”

“I don’t know what the argument was about, but I know if you’re honest and open with him I’m sure things will be okay Peter.”

Peter let out a sigh, “Well… All we can do is wait…”


	5. Suspicion

“Are you sure about this?” Tony asked as he stopped the car outside of Peter’s apartment building, “Are you sure you want to go in?”

Will let out a long sigh as he looked up towards Peter’s bedroom window, “Yeah, I have to see that he’s okay. You know how I am.”

Tony nodded, “I do. Text me when you are ready to go, I’ll wait here for you.”

“Wow not trying to sneak in a trip to see Aunt May?” Will teased, trying to lighten the mood. 

Tony rolled his eyes, “I’m trying to give you your moment kid. Don’t tempt me.”

Will chuckled lightly, “Alright, I’ll text you. Thanks for the ride dad.”

“No problem Ace.”

Will smiled a bit at his dad before he hopped out of the car. He stood on the sidewalk for a moment, suddenly wondering what he was going to say. His brain was reeling, screaming at him to run up to Peter’s apartment to see if he was okay, but he was now fidgety. How did he even start a conversation? “Are you going to go inside and talk to him or are you going to stand there awkwardly like a dumbass?” Tony laughed out the now open passenger's window. 

“Shut up old man, I’m going!” Will shot back, though his father knew the boy was just joshing him. Will bounded quickly up the few steps to the front entrance of the building, pulling the door wide open to show his father he meant business. Will took a deep breath before deciding to take the stairs over the elevator. He was never a huge fan of the metal death traps and with his anxiety at a high level already he knew it would be a bad idea to take it. He went up a few floors before he found himself in the hallway of Peter’s apartment door. It was a little way down the hallway, it looked no different than any other door. However, the apartment held so many good memories for Will the door itself seemed to be a little bit cleaner than all the other ones to him. He took another deep breath before knocking on the door. It hurt his bruised knuckles, but he ignored it and shoved his hand back in his pocket. 

Aunt May pulled it open, a smile making its way onto her features when she saw who was there, “Hi Will! Peter and Ned are in his room.”

He gave her a small nod and a soft smile as she moved for him to step inside, “Thanks May, how are you?”

“I’m doing pretty well, how about yourself?” She asked.

Will’s smile faltered for a second, but he quickly regained his composure, “I’ve been better if I’m honest.”

May frowned, “I’m sorry to hear that, is there anything I can do? Can I get you anything?”

She was so sweet, “No thank you May, but your kindness is appreciated. I’ll be fine.” He had managed to keep his hands in his pockets the whole conversation, but he wondered how long he could keep it up.

“Will?” Will’s attention snapped toward the small voice coming from behind May.

He sucked in a breath, “Peter.” A heavy silence filled the room for a few seconds before Will’s feet moved for him. He pulled his hand’s out of his pockets and wrapped his arms tightly around Peter’s middle. He clutched the material of Peter’s shirt tightly, resting his head on Peter’s shoulder. This was probably the one scenario where he enjoyed being 6’3”. Peter was so short compared to him that it made him perfect to hug. “I’m sorry,” He whispered.

Peter was caught off guard by the hug, but he hugged Will back as soon as he realized what was happening. He wrapped his arms around Will’s neck, one of his hands in his hair while the other was clasped onto his shoulder. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. That fight was my fault, I should have listened to your point of view.”

“But I wasn’t there for the thing after school, if anything had happened-”

“Don’t start with that, it would have been my fault not yours,” Peter said softly before pulling back from the hug.

Will was saddened by the lack of contact after that moment, little did he know that Peter was having the same thought until he caught sight of Will’s bandaged hands. “What happened to your hands, Will?” Peter asked worriedly as he gently picked up Will’s hands to get a better look at them. 

Will’s instant reaction was to pull his hands away, but he didn’t. He liked the idea of Peter holding his hands too much, “Don’t worry about it Pete, I promise I’m okay.”

“But your hands were fine when we left school, what happened Will?” Peter’s heart ached with the possibilities of what could have happened and the fact that it might have something to do with him.

“It has nothing to do with what happened between us, everything is okay,” Will said with a soft smile. He hoped that his best friend would believe him. He needed Peter to think everything was fine while he figured out what to do about Harry. 

Peter let go of his hands in defeat, Will could sense he would probably ask about it again later. “Alright. You’re going to come to school tomorrow right?”

Will smiled brightly, “Wouldn’t miss it for the world Parker.”

“I think you’re the only kid I’ve ever seen who likes school,” Aunt May joked, bringing herself back into the conversation. Will watched closely how she looked at the two of them. She seemed to eye Peter. She’d probably question him about this later. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but I’m here to pick up one billionaire's son,” Tony said through the door. 

May rushed over to open the door, “Mr. Stark what a surprise.”

“Will wasn’t the best condition to drive down here so I offered to give him a ride,” He looked towards his son, “But if we want to make it home at a reasonable time, we need to get going.”

“Right,” Will said with a sigh. He was confused as to why his dad decided to come up, but he went with it. He turned his attention back to Peter, “I’ll see you tomorrow Parker.”

“See you tomorrow Will,” Peter said, he almost went in for another hug, but he caught one glimpse of Tony’s glare and decided against it. Peter watched his crush and his dad leave until they were out the door completely. Ned, who had been watching unnoticed from behind Peter, pulled out his phone to text MJ.

TODAY 9:13 PM  
Ned Solo: okay so update 

Ned Solo: Will got here a few minutes ago and he hugged Peter as soon as he saw him

Ned Solo: Tony just came up and made Will leave

Ned Solo: He gave Will a ride bc his hands were all torn up, he wouldn’t tell Peter what happened to them tho

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: That’s concerning, I wonder what happened to his hands

Ned Solo: Yeah I’m a little worried too

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: We’ll have to see if one of us can get him to open up

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: At least he and Parker made up

Ned Solo: Yeah, at least

Ned Solo: Talk to you tomorrow MJ

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: Night Ned

“Let me guess,” Peter stated, his arms crossed over his chest, “You’re texting MJ to tell her what just happened.”

Ned quickly moved his arms behind his back, “What? No, I’m not. I don’t know what texting is, who’s MJ?”

Peter rolled his eyes, “Sure,” he sighed, “You want to rebuild the Death Star?”

Ned’s eyes lit up, “Yes!”

~ ~ ~

Will let out a sigh as he pulled into school. His hands hurt and he was tired from the lack of sleep he got last night. He stayed up late texting Peter after his dad made him leave so soon after arriving. Will hadn’t told him what happened to his hands, he really didn’t want to talk about it. He just kept changing the subject, but he wondered how long he could keep that up. He got there later than usual so he doubted he would see Peter, Ned, or MJ before gym class, but he could still feel his heart pounding in his chest. He hated lying to them, but he didn’t know what else to do, he couldn’t let them know about Harry because that would open a door to his past that he wasn’t ready for them to walk through.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts before he got out of his car and walked towards the school building. His backpack was slung across his shoulder, but it kept sliding down because he couldn’t use his hand to grip it. He let out another sigh as he put the bag’s straps over both of his shoulders and then quickly tucked his hands inside of his jacket’s pockets. Someone opened the school’s door for him and he mumbled a quick thank you before starting down the hallway, “That’s all I get? Just a garbled ‘thank you’?” The person said. Will recognized the voice and he mentally cursed at himself.

“Sorry MJ,” He said as he turned around to face her. Her arms were crossed over her chest until she saw the look on his face.

“What’s up with you? You look like life hit you with a semi truck,” She said as she walked over to stand next to him. He started walking and she matched his pace.

“I’m fine MJ I’m just tired.”

“Are you sure Will? You’re putting off more of this douchebag billionaire ‘don’t talk to me’ energy than usual,” She pushed.

“I said I’m fine MJ,” he snapped, “Sorry. I’ll see you later.”

MJ stood in the hallway in shock for a minute, she watched him walk off towards his first period. He had made up with Peter already, so it couldn’t be that. There was something deeper going on, something was really wrong with him and she was determined to find out what.

~ ~ ~

“Hi. I’m Captain America. Whether you’re in the classroom or on the battlefield…” The video droned on. Will rolled his eyes at the sound of his voice and refused to look at the screen.  
“Do you know him too?” Ned asked Peter. Will was sitting a row below them and two the left, but he still picked up on their conversation. 

Will could feel Peter’s eyes on him, “Yeah, we met,” he replied in a sour tone that confused Ned. 

“Did something happen with Captain America?” Ned asked.

Peter watched the screen intently, “...fitness can be the difference between success or failure.”

“Drop it, Ned,” Peter warned, “I did do one cool thing with him though, I stole his shield.” His attention flickered between the video and Will below him, he was really worried about him in general, but he knew listening to Cap’s voice probably wasn’t helping him.

“What?” Ned questioned, a shocked look on his face.

“Today, my good friend, your gym teacher…” Will looked up to see the gym teacher move his hand, the motion catching his attention. “...will be conducting the Captain America Fitness Challenge.” He locked eyes with the tv Cap, his brain instantly snapping him back to the airport in Berlin.

 

“DAD! DAD HELP ME!”

 

“it's okay, it’s okay.” His dad held his hand, Peter held the other.

 

“Peter… You’re hurt,” he mumbled out.

 

“Will…” The way Peter said his name at that moment made his heartache.

 

“Will focus on yourself, for now, okay, it’s not that deep, but you’re going to need to go to the hospital,” Tony answered for Peter who had no idea what to say, “I love you kiddo.”

 

“I love you too dad,” he choked. He remembered how hard it was to breathe.

 

Tony turned his attention to Peter, “Peter I hate to put this on you, but do your best to keep him calm and put pressure on it. We’re going to get both of you out of here as soon as we can.”

 

“You got it, Mr. Stark!” 

 

Coach Wilson looked to the tv screen as Will came back to reality. His injured hands were shaking and his breath was labored, “Thank you, Captain. I’m pretty sure this guy’s a war criminal now, but whatever. I have to show these videos. It’s required by the state. Let’s do it.”

All the kids started to move, but Will just gripped the edge of the bleacher he was sitting on. Peter and Ned noticed that he wasn’t moving, but it was Peter that recognized the signs of his panic. Peter jumped down to be in front of Will, “Will where are you?” 

“Berlin,” He mumbled.

“No, you’re in gym. You, me, and Ned, we’re all in gym class at school in Midtown. We’re in New York, not Berlin,” Peter explained, he gently set one of his hands on top of Will’s. 

The contact snapped Will completely back. “Right. Sorry.”

Peter shook his head, “You don’t have to apologize, are you up to doing the fitness test or do you need a break?”

“No I can do it, I’m good,” Will said as he stood up. Peter quickly stood up as well.

“You sure you're okay Will?” Ned asked.

“Yeah, I’m good. Let’s go do some sit-ups,” He replied with a small smile. 

Peter smiled a bit, he thought maybe Will was starting to feel better. MJ had told Peter and Ned about what happened in the hall and it amped up Peter’s worry a lot, he seemed okay, aside from his hands still being stuffed into his pockets. 

The gym teacher watched as Ned, Peter, and Will made their way down to the floor of the gym, “Will why don’t you let Peter go first then do your sit-ups, take a breather?”

Will wanted to argue with him, but he couldn’t say no when he saw the look on Peter and Ned’s faces, “Okay Coach, Parker can go first.”

The other two boys smiled to Will as they made it to an empty mat. Peter got settled into place and Ned held his feet. Will sat criss-cross next to them, his hands were still in his pockets. Things were pretty quiet from the trio aside from some small talk between Ned and Peter until Ned decided to ask a pretty odd question, “Do Avengers have to pay taxes?” Will gave him a weird look while Peter was wide-eyed.

“Shh!”

“What does Hulk smell like?”

“Shh!” Peter said again.

“I bet he smells nice.”

“Uncle Bruce does smell nice,” Will said with a soft smile. There was a slight sadness behind it though, no one had seen Bruce in months. 

“You have to shut up,” Peter scolded. It’s not like anyone would find out he’s Spider-Man from this conversation, for all anyone else knows Ned could be asking Will all these questions. 

“Why? Because you can’t focus when talking about the Avengers?” Will teased.

Peter smiled though he pretended to be annoyed, he was happy that Will seemed to be getting better. “Is Captain America cool, or is he like a mean, old grandpa?”

Will gulped, he had so many good memories of Cap, but all that came to mind was the one bad one, “Cap’s an ass when he doesn’t get his way.”

Peter could see the visible discomfort in Will’s face, “Ned, just, shh, okay?”

“Oh sorry, Will,” Ned responded, realizing his error. 

“It’s okay Ned.”

“Hey, can I be your guy in the chair?” Ned asked, changing the subject.

Peter furrowed his eyebrows, “What?”

“Yeah. You know how there’s a guy with a headset telling the other guy where to go?” Ned explained. Peter and Will gave him weird looks, “Like, like if you’re stuck in a burning building, I could tell you where to go. Because there’d be screens around me, and I could, you know, swivel around, and... ‘Cause I could be your guy in the chair.”

“Ned, I don’t need a guy in the chair,” Peter huffed.

“I bet Will has a guy in the chair,” Ned fired back.

“If an AI wired into my suit counts then I guess I have a guy in the chair,” Will replied.

“Close enough,” Ned answered.

Coach Wilson walked by as the conversation ended, “Looking good, Parker.” He said as Peter stopped doing curl-ups, “Why do you give Will a turn now?”

Peter looked to Will who threw him a soft smile, “Okay coach,” Peter replied, moving off of the mat so Will could have a turn. Will pulled his hands out of his pockets and he watched Peter and Ned’s faces show the cringe they were feeling on the inside. Ned moved to hold his feet anyway and Will began to exercise. Even though his hands obviously hurt Peter could tell that the sit-ups felt like nothing to him. 

“Now, see, for me, it would be F Thor, marry Iron Man, and kill Hulk,” Betty said as she was sitting in the stands, the trio could hear the conversation as Will worked out. 

“Well, what about the Spider-Man?” Charles asked.

“It’s just Spider-Man.”

“Did you guys see the bank security cam on YouTube? He fought off four guys,” Liz said, Peter’s attention turned to the group on the bleachers, Will listened as he continued to work out. 

“Oh my God, she’s crushing on Spider-Man.”

“No way,” Charles gasped.

Liz just shrugs, “Kind of?”

Betty makes a disgusted face, “Ugh, gross. I bet he’s not half as good looking as Will.”

“Shut up Betty he might hear you!” Charles warned. Will had indeed heard, he just rolled his eyes and continued to workout. 

Betty rolled her eyes at Charles, “Good, maybe if he knows that I’m into him he’ll ask me on a date.” Will grimaced.

“Keep dreaming,” Charles snorted.

“Anyways, Spider-Man’s probably thirty,” Betty said, changing the subject back to Liz’s crush. Will felt a bit of jealousy bubbling up in his chest. 

“You don’t even know what he looks like. Like, what if he’s, like, seriously burned?” Charles asked, jumping back on the bandwagon.

Liz shrugged again, “I wouldn’t care. I would still love him for the person he is on the inside.”

Ned surprised both Peter and Will with his next action, “Peter knows Spider-Man!” Both boys looked at Ned with shocked looks on their faces. Peter hopped quickly to his feet as everyone stared at him, Will and Ned followed suit. 

“No, I don’t. No. I... I mean…” Peter stuttered.

Flash, who had been climbing up a rope, slid down to the ground. “They’re friends,” Ned explained shortly. 

Flash scoffed, “Yeah, like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends.”

“I’ve met him. Yeah. A couple of times. But it’s, um... through the Stark internship. Mm-hmm.” Peter turned to Ned, gritting his teeth, “Yeah, well. I’m not really supposed to talk about it.”

“Come on Peter don’t sell yourself short,” Will teased as he stood up, “Spider-Man’s a dork, it’s no wonder that you two get along so well.” Peter shot Will a playful glare. He couldn’t really be mad at the billionaire right now. He was helping in his own way.

Flash smiles his stupid know-it-all smile, unbothered by Will cutting in to back Peter up, “Well, that’s awesome. Hey, you know what? Maybe you should invite him to Liz’s party. Right?”

“Yeah, I’m having people over tonight. You’re more than welcome to come,” Liz responded. There was a small protest from Betty who only wanted Will to be invited, but it was ignored. 

“Having a party?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be dope. You should totally invite your personal friend Spider-Man,” Flash interrupted. 

“Um…” Peter was lost for words.

Liz sighed, “It’s okay. I know Peter’s way too busy for parties anyway, so…”

“How about I bring my suit by and Peter and I will give Spider-Man a call to see if he wants to come?” Will countered. 

Flash sauntered closer, walking close to Peter, “Come on. He’ll be there. Right, Parker?”

Will steps between the pair, “Lay off Flash, we’ll work on it.” Flash put his hands up in defense and walked away as the bell rung. Liz nodded to the three and walked out of the gym. 

Peter turned to face Ned, annoyed that he caused this whole thing to start in the first place, “What are you doing?”

Ned used a quiet tone, “Helping you out. Did you not hear her? Liz has a crush on you.”

Peter rolled eyes, “While I appreciate the thought, Ned, I don’t have feelings for Liz anymore. What am I going to do? I can’t show up as Spider-Man to her party…”

Will placed a calming hand lightly on Peter’s shoulder, “Relax Peter, you’ll be with us, what could go wrong?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me longer than usual to update, life has been really crazy the last few weeks!


	6. Provoked Pretty Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Note: I just saw Far From Home and I came home, took a nap, and wrote this,, I’m sorry it took me so long to write, I saw one too many fan theories and wanted to see far from home before continuing, hope you enjoy!
> 
> PHONE KEYS:  
> Names in Will’s Phone  
> Peter = bug boi 🕷️❤️  
> MJ = hermione freakin granger 🧠🎨  
> Ned = star wars trash 🛸🌌  
> Harry= harry assborn ⚡️⛈  
> Will (name for himself): strongest avenger 🛹💥 
> 
> Names in Ned’s phone  
> Peter = my best friend is spider-man  
> Will = Future Stark CEO  
> MJ = Ms. “I don’t have friends”  
> Ned (name for himself): Ned Solo

“Okay, suddenly this seems like a terrible idea,” Will said to Pepper as he looked in the mirror at his outfit.

“You’ve been to plenty of parties before Will and this time you’ll be with real friends. What’s so bad about that?” She asked. She was sitting on the end of his bed. She had been pep talking him and helping him pick his clothes. Pepper could tell Will was much more nervous than usual.

“Does this look good? This jacket seems a little tight,” Will replied without answering her question as he pulled at the fabric. The black casual suit jacket was custom made, it fit him perfectly. The dark blue skinny jeans he had one and t-shirt underneath of the jacket were both from his clothing company. The light pink shirt read ‘let boys be feminine’ across the chest in slanted red font. This was overall a signature William Stark look, but he still felt hot and uncomfortable.

“Will you look great,” Pepper said, breaking him from his thoughts, “Stop second guessing yourself, you sound just like your dad when you do that. Both of you need that confidence that you have in front of cameras behind them too.” She stood up off of the bed and walked over to him, “You’re going to have a great time tonight. It’s going to be a good break for you to just relax and hang out with Peter, Ned, and MJ. Don’t over think anything else. You’ve got this.”

Will smiled at her as he turned to face her, “Thanks Pepper, you always know just what to say to make me feel better don’t you?”

“Well I’ve had a lot of practice, I’ll always be here to help you and your dad Will,” She said with a small smile.

Will’s smile widened as he hugged her tightly, “I love you, mom,” He said quietly. She stiffened slightly, Will panicked and pulled back, worried that he had said it too soon. He had thought about calling her mom for years, but he never had. “What? Is it too soon?”

Will watched her waterline get a thin coat of tears on it, but none of them fell. “No no, it’s not too soon. I love you too Will, we may not be related by blood, but you will always be my son.”

Will pulled her in for a second hug, he was trying not to cry. He didn’t want his face to be all blotchy when he got to the party. “Why is the atmosphere so thick that I could cut it with a knife? I thought you were getting ready for a party,” Tony asked as he appeared in the doorway. Well, his suit appeared in the doorway. It was clunky and awkward because of its size, but Will liked it better than phone calls. His dad would sometimes leave his suit behind on trips and use it as a way to physically walk around the compound. Will pulled back from Pepper and smiled at his dad. 

“Conversation got a little serious,” He said as he adjusted the bandage on his right hand, “but I’m about to head out now.”

“Okay Ace, make sure you make it home safe, I don’t want to have to come to rescue your ass while I’m on vacation,” Tony teased through the suit’s speaker.

“You’re supposed to be on a work trip,” Pepper retorted as she crossed her arms.

“It’s a working vacation,” Tony corrected, “No harm in having a few drinks with the locals after making business deals.”

“Hurry home old man,” Will said.

“I left this morning Kid.”

“Yeah? And I said to hurry home,” Will smiled at the suit before he heard his phone beep. He pulled it from his jean pocket. He expected it to be one of his friends, but he couldn’t be more wrong.

 

TODAY 7:32 PM

harry assborn ⚡️⛈: hey starkshit. First party’s tomorrow night. My penthouse. Designer dress only. 7pm… unless you want your little friends to find out what you used to get up to.

strongest avenger 🛹💥: I’ll be there

harry assborn ⚡️⛈: glad you see things my way, I’m sure Molly will be happy to see you. I’ll be calling soon.

 

“Will? Will are you okay?” Pepper asked, noticing how his jaw set when he looked at his phone.

“What? Oh yeah, everything’s fine. I’m peachy,” He said as he grabbed his keys from his nightstand, “Love you, dad! Don’t wait up Pepper!” He said as he squeezed past the iron suit and jogged down the hall. The suit and Pepper looked at each other, Will was all over the place and it wasn't going unnoticed. 

Will got to his G wagon and hopped in the driver’s seat as his phone started ringing. He was sure it was Peter this time, but he groaned when he saw the caller ID. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He clicked answer as he pulled out of his parking spot. “When you said you were gonna call me soon, I didn’t think it would be this soon.”

“At least I’m a man of my word, unlike you Starkshit,” Harry teased.

“The hell do you want Harry?” Will spat as he left the compound’s property. 

“Can’t we just talk? Catch up?”

“I swear to god Osborn I will hang up on you,” Will spat.

“Oh you won’t do that, you wouldn’t risk me telling Peter Parker-”

“Cut the shit, Harry. You can cool it with the repeated threats, I get it. I do exactly what you say or you ruin my life blah blah blah,” Will shot back, “Why did you call?”

“To let you know I did you a favor Stark.”

“What the hell favor have you done for me?”

“I move my party to tomorrow night because I noticed it’s your last night in town for a few days. You’re heading to Washington DC with your little academic decathlon team right?” 

Will bit his tongue from asking how he knew that, “Yeah.”

“See? Because of me, you don’t have to miss your trip.”

“It’s also because of you that I am coming at all,” Will fired back.

“William, if you want things to stay peaceful in your life, I suggest you learn your place in this arrangement quickly. If you don’t, next time you might not get so lucky with the party date.”

The line went dead.

Will wanted to pull over and scream his lungs out, but if he did he would be late. Instead, “Hey Friday,” He said to the car. The G had recently been wired to have Friday, even though he didn’t use it much. 

“Yes Will?”

“Shuffle Bug Boi mix through the car’s speakers.”

“Shuffling Bug boi mix.”

~ ~ ~

Will pulled up to the party a few minutes later than he would have liked to thanks to traffic, but Peter and Ned weren’t there yet anyway. MJ was and he was glad that she was already inside. She may not know his history with partying, but she knows how to keep him grounded without even trying. He took a deep breath and turned the car off. He got out and people were instantly looking at him. He kept his head down, for the most part, he did shoot a few people smiles though. He played with the red bracelet that held his suit even though it was hidden by his jacket. The party vibe was already hitting him and it made him a little sick to his stomach with the memories that came along with it. “Hey jerk,” MJ said as he walked through the door, thank god she was there to pull him from his thoughts. 

“Hey MJ, listen I’m sorry for-”

“It’s okay Will. You’re under some kind of stress you’re not telling us about so your emotions are a little out of whack. I forgive you.”

He gave her a confused look. “I’m not-”

“Sure you aren’t. Come on, let’s go get snacks while we wait for Peter and Ned to get here,” she said.

“O-Okay?”

Meanwhile, Peter and Ned were in May’s car outside of the party. “House party in the suburbs. Oh, I remember these. Kind of jealous.” Peter stared intensely at the house, he had just caught Will walking in as they rolled up. Peter could barely see him in the dim light, but he knew he looked good. 

“It’ll be a night to remember,” Ned smiled in the back seat. Peter still sat uncomfortably shotgun.

May laughed, “Ned, some hats wear men. You wear that hat.”

“Yeah, it gives me confidence.”

“Hmm.”

Peter’s hands were slightly shaking, “This is a mistake.” He turned to face May, “Hey, let’s just go home.”

“Oh, Peter. I know. I know it’s really hard trying to fit in with all the changes your body’s going through. It’s flowering now.”

Peter gave her a confused look before it changed to an amused one, “Uh-huh.”

May turned around to face Ned, “He’s so stressed out lately.”

“What helps with stress is going to a party. We should go to the party,” Ned said convincingly. 

Peter unbuckled his seat belt, “Yeah, let’s do it. Yeah. I’m gonna go. I’m gonna go.” He was soon out of the car and the night’s air hit him. Ned was soon by his side. 

May calls to Peter through the open window. Peter turned leaned down so he could hear her. “Have fun, okay? And say hi to Will for me! He seemed a little off last night.”

Peter nodded, “I will.”

May smiled at him, “Okay and thank him for giving you boys a ride home.”

Peter nodded again as Ned said goodbye to May. The two started walking toward the house together, “ Dude, you have the suit, right?"

Peter pulled up his sleeve, showing Ned the Spider-Man suit underneath. “Yeah.”

“You think Will remembered to bring his?” Ned asked.

“You know that Red bracelet he wears all the time?” 

“Yeah?”

“That’s his suit,” Peter answered.

Ned smiled as they made it to the door, “This is gonna change our lives.”

“Sup losers,” Will said as he and MJ walked over to them.

“Hey Will,” Peter replied with a squeak in his voice. He mentally cursed at himself for that one, but kept a smile on his face. Will looked amazing in his outfit, it’s easy to tell he loves style. 

“Can’t believe you guys are at this lame party,” MJ interjected as she spreads jam on a slice of toast.

Will raised an eyebrow at her, “But you’re here too.” Ned stated.

MJ gave him a curious look, “Am I?” She patted Will on the shoulder before walking away, which did not go unnoticed by Peter. He pushed his feelings of jealousy back down.

“You look great Will,” Peter blurted out, he instantly regretted it, but the smile that made its way onto Will’s face made all his negative emotions turn to butterflies. 

“Thanks, Parker, you look pretty great yourself,” Will said as he looked at Peter a little too long, “Ned that hat looks great on you.” He quickly changed the subject of the conversation.

“Thanks, Will, maybe we should talk about adding a hat line to your company,” Ned said half-joking.

“I was thinking about doing a beanie and dad cap series.”

“I can get behind that,” Ned said with a nod.

“Oh, my gosh,” the group's attention turned to Liz, “Hey, guys. Cool hat, Ned.”

Ned smiled, “Hi, Liz.”

Peter felt awkward, ever since he had told Will a few months ago that he used to have a crush on Liz, he avoided individual conversation with her, “Hi, Liz.”

“Hey Liz,” Will said dryly, but she didn’t seem to notice.

Liz smiled back at the three of them, “I’m so happy you guys came. There’s pizza and drinks. Help yourself.”

“What a great party,” Peter replied, keeping his small smile.

“Thanks.”

The four all heard something break, Liz looked a little panicked, “Oh, I... My parents will kill me if anything’s broken. I gotta-”

“Yeah,” Will stated.

“Have fun… and Will? I’m sorry if Betty or any of my other friends try anything, a few girls seemed pretty determined to get you to dance with them tonight.”

“Thanks for the heads up, if anything happens I can handle it. Biya Liz.”

“Okay, bye guys,” Liz said as she turned to leave.

“Bye,” Ned said as she did. 

“Okay so. We’re gonna have Spider-Man swing in and Will suit up, say you guys are tight, and then I get a fist bump or one of those half bro-hugs from both of you,” Ned said as soon as she was out of earshot.

“Ned everyone already knows we’re friends,” Will stated.

“Yeah, but like it’d be awesome to be able to say we fist bumped while you were all suited up. Your most recent suit is so cool!” Ned gushed.

Will laughed, “Sounds like a plan to me.”

“Hang on guys, I can’t... I cannot do this. Spider-Man is not a party trick, okay? Look, I’m just gonna... be myself.”

Ned sighed, “Peter, no one wants that.”

Peter was obviously a little hurt by the remark, “Dude.”

“Hey hey hey, first off, Ned that was uncalled for. Second, Peter, I’m gonna be right there next to you, if you freeze up I’ll do the talking. I’ve got your back,” Will said with a bright smiled.  
Peter blushed bright red, “You-”

“Penis Parker, what’s up?” Flash said into the microphone. He played a honking sound on the stereo system. He continued to smirk, “So, where’s your pal Spider-Man? Let me guess. In Canada with your imaginary girlfriend?” He made the machine make the honking noise again. Everyone around them was laughing. The trio was silent. “That’s not Spider-Man. That’s just Ned in a red shirt.”

“I’m gonna kill him,” Will seethed as he clenched his fists. Peter could hear the faint sound of Will’s suit coming out of the bracelet. 

“Woah woah woah, see now you can’t say things like that when you have a suit on you that makes you capable of doing that,” Peter said, stepping in Will’s way and grabbing both of his arms above his hands so he made sure not to hurt him.

“You shouldn’t say that period,” Ned said, “Someone might think you’ve gone dark side.”

“Okay, you guys are right. I don’t want people to get the wrong idea, new plan…” Peter let go of him in relief as the suit went back into the bracelet, “I’m just gonna bust his knee caps,” Will snapped. Peter grabbed his arms again, “Metaphorically… With words.”

“Oh no your not, Will let’s stick to plan A okay? I’m gonna go get changed. Watch him, Ned!” Peter said as he ran off into the party. 

“Why don’t we just talk in another part of the house or look for MJ? Peter will be back in a few minutes and we’ll show Flash how much of a jerk he is without busting his knee caps,” Ned suggested. 

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“You good there money bags? You look a little red in the… everywhere,” MJ said as she walked up. 

“Yeah, he’s fine. Just mad at Flash for making fun of Peter,” Ned explained.

MJ nodded, “If you’re so upset about it Prince Charming why don’t you do something about it?”

“Don’t encourage him! I’m supposed to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid while Peter’s in the bathroom and stupid includes punching Flash!” Ned countered. 

“I don’t need a babysitter!” Will said as he crossed his arms. 

“That’s debatable,” MJ teased.

“Where’s Peter? He should be back by now,” Will asked anxiously.

“Give the man a few minutes Stark. You’re acting like a lost puppy without him and you need to do some deep breathing,” MJ pointed out.

“I don’t need to deep breathe,” Will rolled his eyes.

“Wow.”

“Wow what?”

“You are just completely in love with that nerd aren’t you?” MJ asked.

Will went wide-eyed and his cheeks were burning red instantly, “What?! No, I’m not. Parker’s-”

“Hey has anyone seen Penis Parker? Or did he run off because I embarrassed him?” Flash said into the microphone. 

“Remember what your therapist taught you, Will, have patience,” Will mumbled to himself while he messed with his hair. 

“Hey, Will have you seen your stalker anywhere?” Flash continued, “I still don’t get why you let Parker follow you around, you’re a billionaire! Have some class man! Upgrade from Penis Parker! Peter probably doesn’t even know Spider-Man does he? You just covered for him because you feel sorry for him! You feel sorry for the little nobody from Queens who clings to you like a lost puppy.”

Will’s nostrils flared and his fists clenched, “That’s it.”

Ned pulled out his phone to call Peter, “Oh shit.”

“Hey Flash!” Will called, the party began to quiet down, “Why don’t you shut the hell up about stuff that you have no idea about?”

Flash laughed, “But see I do. You act all big and tough, you act like you hanging out with the losers who you’ve fakely befriended, it’s all just an act. I mean who even knows what your real personality is or what you’re really feeling ever. When do you ever drop that cocky act for people to get to know you? What are you really thinking Stark?”

Will took a few steps closer, people moved out of his way, “I’m thinking, I don’t know where you got the idea that it would be a good idea to mess with me and my friends, but here’s the truth Eugene. Peter is the first real friend I have ever had. Upper-class kids tend to be narcissistic assholes who are hell-bent on becoming just like their parents. They’re all almost always drunk, high, or just bigoted and frankly terrible to be around. I love hanging out with Peter, Ned, and MJ because they don’t see me as a bank account amount, a connection, or just a pretty face. They see me, a person… So back off of Peter, me, and them or I swear to god,” Will reached the DJ station, “I will bust your knee caps.”

It was obvious that Flash was taken back by Will’s statement, but he didn’t back down, “Big talk for a kid with no suit.”

“Jokes on you,” Will said quietly, “I always have my suit.” Suddenly Will was completely dressed in his suit, the bracelet activated entirely. 

Flash took a step back, “Woah! Hey! I didn’t mean it, I-”

“Will!” The billionaire’s attention was turned to Peter, who was back with soaking wet hair and in the clothes, he was in before, “let’s get out of here.” Will backed off of Flash and his suit went back to being a bracelet as he, Ned, MJ, and Peter walked out the door, “What was that? I said to leave him alone!” Peter yelled.

“He was provoked Peter, Flash was egging him on. He was trying to get a reaction and Will stood up for all of us,” MJ explained. 

“What did he say?” Peter asked as they got to the car. Peter got in shotgun and Ned and MJ were in the back seat. 

“Said some stuff about you, some about me, some about Ned and MJ. I shut him down. Let’s not talk about it,” Will said with a sigh. “Hey Friday, shuffle ‘cheer the fuck up’ on a volume low enough that we can still talk.”

“Of course Will. Shuffling ‘Cheer the f**k up’ on a low volume,” The AI responded.

“Woah awesome!” Ned exclaimed.

The rest of the ride was just filled with small talk between the four friends. They were soon at Ned’s place, and the three friends left waved goodbye to him before heading down the road to Peter’s place. Will wished he could drop Peter off last, but that would be out of the way and he didn’t want to raise suspicion. They were all too soon at Peter’s. “I’m sorry we didn’t get too much tonight,” Peter said as he got out.

“It’s okay. Sometime soon I’ll have you all over for a night to the compound… and we are continuing your skateboarding lessons when we get back from DC,” Will responded as Peter looked in the open front passenger window. 

“Sounds good… goodnight Will, night MJ,” Peter said as he turned away.

“Night,” The final two said in unison. MJ rolled up her window so Peter couldn’t hear them, “Okay Will. You have the biggest crush on him I have ever seen and you can’t tell me otherwise.”  
Will sighed, “Yeah I do.”

“I fuckin knew it.”

~ ~ ~

Ned waited just long enough for MJ to get home before he texted her.

 

TODAY 10:49 PM

Ned Solo: so?

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: so what?

Ned Solo: did you get Will to spill on if he has a crush on Peter or not?

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: oh yeah

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: he totally does

Ned Solo: heck yeah! Now we just have to get them to tell each other

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: easier said than done

Ned Solo: we’ll think of something, maybe i’ll try to convince peter to ask him to homecoming

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: good idea. I’ll try to get will to do the same

Ned Solo: night MJ

Ms. “I don’t have friends”: night ned

 

~ ~ ~

Will was laying in bed listening to “bug boi mix” when he got a text from bug boi himself. 

 

TODAY 12:14 AM

bug boi 🕷️❤️: hey will

strongest avenger 🛹💥: hey peter

bug boi 🕷️❤️: you get home safe?

strongest avenger 🛹💥: aw you worried about me, Parker?

strongest avenger 🛹💥: yeah, I got home and everyone was already asleep

bug boi 🕷️❤️: that’s good

bug boi 🕷️❤️: but yeah I am worried about you…

strongest avenger 🛹💥: ??

strongest avenger 🛹💥: wym?

bug boi 🕷️❤️: You know how I disappeared tonight?

strongest avenger 🛹💥: Yeah I should be the one who’s worried about you

bug boi 🕷️❤️: I ran into some guys with some alien tech when I went to check on an explosion i saw

bug boi 🕷️❤️: but thats not what im worried about

bug boi 🕷️❤️: i got rescued by your dad controlling his suit remotely and after i was safe we talked

strongest avenger 🛹💥: you went off to an explosion without me? Call me next time 

strongest avenger 🛹💥: we’re supposed to be a team

strongest avenger 🛹💥: what did you talk about with my dad?

bug boi 🕷️❤️: I’m sorry I will next time

bug boi 🕷️❤️: a bit about spiderman stuff

bug boi 🕷️❤️: but like mostly you

strongest avenger 🛹💥: what about me?

bug boi 🕷️❤️: he seemed really peeved

bug boi 🕷️❤️: like more than would make sense for why he was there

bug boi 🕷️❤️: so I asked him what was wrong

strongest avenger 🛹💥: and?

bug boi 🕷️❤️: our fight

bug boi 🕷️❤️: i never meant to make you cry Will

bug boi 🕷️❤️: i would never do that on purpose

strongest avenger 🛹💥: we already made up peter, it’s fine

strongest avenger 🛹💥: plus that wasn’t just about our fight

bug boi 🕷️❤️: whats going on?

bug boi 🕷️❤️: you know you can talk to me

strongest avenger 🛹💥: not about this

bug boi 🕷️❤️: come on will 

bug boi 🕷️❤️: please

bug boi 🕷️❤️: please with all the cherries on top

strongest avenger 🛹💥: no peter im sorry

strongest avenger 🛹💥: goodnight

bug boi 🕷️❤️: will please don’t 

bug boi 🕷️❤️: will?

 

TODAY 2:32 AM  
bug boi 🕷️❤️: will

bug boi 🕷️❤️: if you’re up

bug boi 🕷️❤️: just know im here for you

bug boi 🕷️❤️: ill be here if you ever need anything

bug boi 🕷️❤️: like ever

bug boi 🕷️❤️: i care about you a lot

bug boi 🕷️❤️: i just want to make sure you’re okay

 

TODAY 3:46 AM  
bug boi 🕷️❤️: call me if you need to

bug boi 🕷️❤️: goodnight will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is over 4000 words oops


	7. Party Life Sucks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I just want to throw this info out there; I have just moved away to college and have started my classes this week! While this is v exciting and wild, it means that I don't have as much time to sit down and write. I apologize in advance if my updates on any of my stories are slow, but I will do my best to update as often as I can! ALSO, I greatly appreciate any comments I get, they really motivate me to work on a particular story! If you have any thoughts or reactions you wanna share, please do! (I'm going to post this note on my next few updates so I'm sorry if you're reading more than one of my stories and see this a few times lol). Thanks for being amazing you guys! -Cas

Will had been dreading this since he received that text from Harry. This time last night he was at Liz’s midweek house party with his three best friends, now he was going to a party where he hated pretty much everyone. Harry had moved his party from Friday night to Thursday night to make sure that he could go, but it all still didn’t make sense to him. Sure Harry’s parties probably lost some traction after he stopped going, but not enough to warrant him bringing Will back. Will let out a long sigh as he looked at himself in the mirror. He wore all black; a Versace suit with an Emporio Armani dress shirt underneath and Burberry dress shoes. He hadn’t dressed like this in almost 10 months and he was uncomfortable. This didn’t feel like him then and it really didn’t feel like him now. “You can do this Will, it’s only a few hours.” He could feel his palms start to sweat. He skipped school today because he was so anxious about the party tonight that he couldn’t focus. Peter, Ned, and MJ had all texted him. They were all worried. He was doing just great at keeping these two worlds apart. He shook the thoughts from his head as he heard a knock on his door. “Hey Will- where are you going all dressed up?” Wanda asked.

He gulped, he had to think of something quickly, “Oh I’m just meeting some business people at a nice restaurant. Hopefully, I’ll be sealing a deal for my company tonight. I haven’t told anyone yet because I don’t want anyone to be disappointed if it doesn’t go through. Can you keep my secret?” 

“My lips are sealed,” She said as she stepped aside for him to get into the hall.

“I’ll see you later Wanda,” He said as he walked down the hall towards the exit.

“Seeya Will! Good luck!” She said as she pulled his door closed.

Even though she didn’t know where he was really going, he appreciated her wishing him luck. He was definitely going to need it to get through tonight in one piece. He grabbed his car keys from the key rack near the door and headed outside. He wasn’t going to drink tonight so there’s no reason for him to not to drive. He hopped into his car and took a deep breath as he turned it on. “Hey, Friday.”

“Welcome: Strongest Avenger.”

Will laughed, his dad kept changing his nickname in Friday’s database to that. He might just leave it this time, “shuffle ‘bug boi mix’ as loud as you can without damaging my hearing.”

“Shuffling ‘big boi mix’ on 38.”

“That’s not loud enough.”

~ ~ ~

Will could feel the atmosphere of the party from the building’s parking lot. Harry had learned his lesson of calling the press anonymously to come to the party’s outside door. It caused too much chaos, too many people got in trouble. But even though the bottom floors of the building were quiet, Will could see the lights coming from the penthouse. He put his G in park and looked at his phone. 

 

TODAY 6:34 PM  
bug boi 🕷️❤️: Hey will, I know you texted in the group chat this morning saying you just weren’t feeling well, but are you okay?

bug boi 🕷️❤️: you know you can talk to me if you need to

 

Will let out a sigh. He wanted to tell Peter that he wasn’t fine. He wanted to drive over to his apartment and hug him and cry it out, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t ready to open up about this part of his life. Plus, who knows what Harry would do if he didn’t show up to the party. 

Thus, he chose to ignore Peter’s texts and went to the party at 7:04 pm. 

The stench of alcohol and teenage mistakes in the air was nauseating as soon as it hit his nose. Will scrunched up his face as he used his hands to flatten out the front of his suit jacket. He could feel several pairs of eyes on him as he made his way past the bouncer, stepping fully into the room. He hated these parties, that much was clear to him instantly. “I almost thought I was going to have to give Parker a call tonight,” Harry said as he approached Will.

Will rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the people all starting to stare at him. This was worse than usual, “Oh please Osborn. It’s just past seven.”

Harry shrugged his shoulders, “You were always one to be fashionably late Stark.” The older boy stuck his hand out for Will to shake, “It’s good to have you back in the party circuit Will.” The younger Stark looked at Harry’s hand before walking past him, he wasn’t going to shake that shark’s hand. “Oh come on, don’t be like that. Play nice for the night,” Harry said as he walked quickly to match Will’s pace.

Will stopped walking and crossed his arms over his chest, “What exactly is your idea of playing nice Harry? Before when I came to your parties you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“That was before,” He said with a smirk, “Have a drink with me and Molly.”

Will gulped, “I don’t drink anymore,” he stated flatly. 

Harry’s eyes set for a second before he calmed himself. His smirk was quickly back on his face, “See that’s your problem William, you thought it was a good idea to sober up.”

“I don’t really care what you think of my decisions Harry. I don’t drink,” Will spat.

“Why not though? Your dad is arguably one of the most successful men in the world and we both know how much of an addict he is to liquid courage. I know you want to be just like him? So why not be like him in every way, except maybe a little less pour happy hmm?” Harry asked.

Will knew that Harry was trying to manipulate him, he was caving. He had to stay strong, “No Harry.”

“Okay Starkshit, I didn’t want to play this dirty, but you’ve forced my hand,” Harry said as he pulled out his phone. He flipped to something before turning the screen around to face Will. Pulled up was a group chat with Peter, Ned, and MJ’s numbers in it and a text with pictures from a few parties qued up. Drinking, arm around Molly’s waist, punching Harry in the face after he had been provoked. The explanation of the pictures that Harry had written out wouldn’t help his case either. Will glared at him, he was going to have to get a ride home. “So how about we have a drink with Molly hmm?”

“One.”

Harry patted Will on the shoulder, “See there’s the Will Stark I know and hate slightly less than the new one.”

Will rolled his eyes as Harry lead him over to the bar. That was the problem with these parties. No one checked ids. No one recognized faces for the most part. No one spoke a word about any of it as soon as they walked back out into the real world. No, they were just a bunch of rich kids who did whatever they wanted while the law turned a blind eye, for a huge sum of cash of course. Molly was sitting on one of the bar stools sipping on a cosmopolitan, but she set it down and stood up as soon as she saw Will. “Hiya Handsome, it’s been awhile.” She wrapped her arms around his middle and kissed his cheek.

“Hi Molly,” Will said as he fidgeted. He was expecting her to let go of him and sit back down, but she didn’t.

She looked up at him confused, “No doll? Babe? Gorgeous? Just Molly?” 

“Like you said it’s been awhile,” he said as he peeled her off of him, “How are you?”

“You are too sober,” She pouted as she sat back down at her seat at the bar. Will sat next to her and Harry sat on the other side of him. Molly turned toward the bartender, “I’ll have a fresh one and this heartthrob will have a whiskey sour.”

“And I’ll have a whiskey and coke. On the double, this is my party,” Harry added. The bartender nodded and was off to work on the three drinks. 

“So babe, why did you ditch us for normal high school? I mean we have to be a lot more fun… even when you and Harry fight,” Molly asked.

Will thought for a moment and resisted the urge to tell her off for using the pet name. He couldn’t cause too much of a problem, “I like to learn, besides slowing down and doing what normal teens do is fun for a change.”

“Please babe, you can’t be serious. I mean, you can’t actually like going to normal school. Does anyone even know what Louis Vuitton is at that place?” She questioned. She was completely appalled.

Will sighed, “Not everything is about money, designer clothes, and Porsches Molly.”

“What are you talking about? God that school really has changed you, Will. I-”

“And our drinks are here, good timing too,” Harry said as the bartender set the drinks down in front of the trio. Will’s nose hated the smell of the drink he used to love, “Drink up Starkshit, you’re no fun when you’re sober.”

~ ~ ~

A few hours and several drinks he was blackmailed into drinking later, Will was very, very drunk. Even drunk, he didn’t want to hang out around Molly and Harry. The music was too loud and the party was too much for his eyes to process. He wanted Peter. He wanted to cuddle, curl up in his bed in his pajamas and watch Star Wars with his crush. Will had gotten Molly and Harry, who were both very drunk, away from him by going to the bathroom, but while he was there he looked at his phone. He saw the texts from Peter that he had ignored earlier, and his heart made up his mind. He was going to Peter’s. He snuck out of the party and made it to the parking lot. He knew he couldn’t drive so he took his phone back out of his pocket and he dialed Peter’s number. 

“Ssssup Parker?” He slurred into the phone.

“Will? Are you okay?” Peter asked. Will didn’t pick up on the worried tone in his crush’s voice. 

“Me? Oh yeah I’m…” Will trailed off, losing his train of thought.

“Will?”

“Peachy. I’m just Peachyyy,” Will responded with a giggle at the end.

“I hear cars Will, where are you?” Peter asked, there was shuffling on his end. He was getting dressed to go help his crush. His heart was pounding out of his chest. Something was very wrong with Will even if he couldn’t place it.

“I’m on the sidewalk, don’t worry Parker, I’m not… gonna get hit by a car,” Will teased. Peter wasn’t having it at this moment. Peter couldn’t tell what was going on with Will, but he knew that whatever was going on wasn’t good. Was it bad enough to call Mr. Stark?

“Can you send me your location Will?” Peter questioned as he pulled on his shoes, he didn’t know if Will would be able to do it in this state, but he had hope. 

“You don’t need to come… get me Parker. I just wanted to let you know that I’m coming oooover,” Will smiled, “I wanna see your cute f-face.”

“No Will you can’t drive,” Peter fired back, his voice was strained. He was really freaking out and thrown off by the cute comment. 

“I’m not gonna drive… I’m gonna walk,” the young Stark replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“No. Stay where you are. Send me your location I’m coming to get you,” Peter said sternly. Will rolled his eyes and pulled his phone from his ear. He pulled up Peter’s contact and hit ‘Share My Location’. Peter relaxed a little bit when he saw that Will wasn’t too far away. He was in a nicer part of town, but he could get there in a few minutes if he swung fast enough. “Thanks, Will. Don’t move a muscle,” Peter climbed out his window and started to swing, “Stay on the phone with me until I get there okay? I want to make sure you are safe.”

“If I don’t move a muscle I can’t talk to you Parkerrrr,” Will replied with a smirk before he started coughing. 

“Just don’t walk anywhere Will. We’ll get you some water when we get back to my place.” 

“You sound like Pepper,” Will replied. Peter was getting closer as he talked. He wasn’t sure what he was going to find. He swung around the last corner and he saw Will standing at the base of a fancy building. There was a party going on in the penthouse, Peter wondered if that’s where Will had been, “Will, Hey!” He said as he landed in front of the young billionaire. Peter could immediately see there was something very wrong with his best friend. He had heard the difference in his tone and the way he slurred his words was concerning, but he looked even worse. His skin was flushed pink and he was swaying back and forth. He wasn’t like his anxious sway either, it was like he couldn’t stand up straight. 

“Heya Parkerrr. Ready to go?” Will asked. Peter quickly moved to catch him as he swayed too far and almost fell over. Peter wrapped his arm around Will’s waist and Will slung his arm over Peter’s shoulders. “Thanks for the assist.”

“No problem, let’s just focus on getting you back to my apartment okay?” Peter asked as they started walking. Will didn’t respond, he focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Peter wanted to swing from building to building to get there faster, but he didn’t want Will to get sick or fall because he couldn’t keep his grip on the spider-ling. At first, the walk was silent, but Peter couldn’t take it. He didn’t know what was wrong and he needed to know what it was. “Where were you, Will? Why were you at that street corner?”

“Part… I… I was at a party,” Will said as he almost fell over. It took all of Peter’s strength to keep him stable because of the size difference between the two boys. 

“A party? Will in the entire time I’ve known you you’ve only been to Liz’s party and my birthday thing where it was literally just me, you, Ned, and MJ watching Star Wars,” Peter questioned. Going to a party didn’t seem like it was in Will’s realm of normal activities. Peter was really beginning to panic, what if Will was drugged with something at the party? He has enough enemies that someone could want to hurt him. Peter didn’t want to think about it.

“Key thought… the time you’ve known…” Will managed to get out.

“What?”

“Bef… Before we met… Par-” Will was cut off by his own throat betraying him. He started to cough violently. 

“Will?! Will are you okay?”

Will nodded as they started moving again, “I’m fine…” a dorky smile made its way onto his face as they made it to the front door of Peter’s apartment building. 

“What’s that smile for?” Peter asked.

“Ugh, honestly Parker you are so oblivious. You’re just so hot and I can’t handle it sometimes,” Will slurred with the goofy smile still plastered to his cheeks.

“Ha, you’re very funny man. Let’s keep go-”

“No, like really tho Parker… so-sometimessss I just wanna hold your hand… and like kiss your dumb face because youuuu always act like you don’t know anything when you are actuallyy one of… of the smartest people I know, which is like, really saying something… like because my familyyy,” Will slurred. Peter turned bright red at the confession and helps Will shift his weight when he hiccups and gets off balance.

“Y-yeah okay man… what did you even take to get this out of it dude?” Peter asked with a squeak.

“Noooo Peter listen to me,” Will said as he weakly stopped Peter from opening the door. “I’m not kidding, all of this is super ssserioussss… and like… damn it’s really hard to think with this much in my system… but the point is I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner… or ssssober.”

Peter feels water coming to his eyes, but he blinked it away. He was really struggling to keep a calm feel to him. He didn’t know if Will had taken drugs or drank alcohol… but Peter’s anxiety kept trying to spin it into something much worse.

“O-Okay, it’s okay let’s just… we are almost there and then you can lay down and clear your head alright?” Peter suggested.

“I want cuddles,” Will whined as he finally let Peter open the door.

“Cuddles? Let’s just get you upstairs okay?” It took both boys total concentration to make it up the few flights of stairs. Once they were at the door Peter realized he forgot his keys in the rush to go help Will. He used his free hand to knock as loudly as he could hoping May would hear and let them in. The shuffling from inside confirmed that she did. While they waited, Peter got a good look at Will in the light for the first time. His skin was paler than usual, his eyes were set further back in their sockets, and his hair was covered in a thin sheen of grease. Peter heard May mumbling from inside of the apartment, but before she could open the door, Will’s body gave out and Peter was completely holding him up, “Will?! WILL!” Peter exclaimed. His vision became blurry with tears as May opened the door. A shocked look came instantly. 

“What happened?!” She asked quickly as she helped Peter move him inside. 

“I-I don’t know. He called me and he sounded all weird and I-I could hear cars. I was worried h-he… he would get hit so I went to get him in a rush and I forgot my key. H-H just p-passed out before you opened the door! H-He said he was at a party. Wh-What if he was drugged?! Or like poisoned o-r-”

“Peter take a deep breath,” May said calmly and the two of them set Will down on the couch. May felt for a pulse quickly and was relieved to find a fairly strong one. Her heart ached at the fact that Peter couldn’t identify the stench coming off of Will as whiskey. There was no doubt in her mind that he had been drinking; heavily. “Do you have Pepper’s number?” May asked in a calm tone so that Peter would stay calm. Peter rocked back and forth on his feet as he nodded, “Alright, give me your phone and I’ll give her a call since you said Tony is out of town. Peter mumbled a quick ‘okay’ while keeping his eyes trained on Will. “He’s gonna be okay Peter,” She said as she clicked call on Pepper’s contact. 

“Peter thank goodness you called. Have you seen Will? Wanda said he had a dinner with some people for a deal for his company, but there’s no record of anything like that in Friday’s database,” Pepper spoke quickly as she paced around the kitchen with Happy, Vision, and Wanda watching. 

“Actually it’s Peter’s Aunt May. Will called Peter from somewhere downtown and Peter picked him up. I think he’s very intoxicated. He passed out as soon as I opened the door to let them both in,” She explained. She heard a deep sigh come from the other side of the phone.

“I’m so sorry May, Happy and I are on our way to come get him. Do you have any idea how he got a hold of alcohol?” Pepper asked as she signaled for Happy to follow her down the hall towards the door. 

“Peter said that Will told him he was at a party.”

“Damn it. We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Pepper said before she hung up the phone. May could feel the other woman’s tension even after she hung up the phone. 

“What do you mean intoxicated?” Peter asked as soon as he realized May was off the phone. He had sat down on the couch next to Will. 

“Did something happen aside from a scare? Did he say something? You look like you’re about to cry,” She asked, trying to change the subject.

“What? Oh no no. um just, it was just scary to see him like that you know?” He answered quickly.

“Oh yeah. You did the right thing Peter. You did good okay?”

Peter nodded a bit, “What do you think he took?”

She was about to answer when Will bursted awake with a coughing fit. “Will are you alright?!” he asked extremely worried.

Will didn’t pick up the tone in his drunken state, “I’m peachy.”

“What did you take Will?”

“I’m not sure, I drank a lot of Whisky Sours though.”

“Whiskey sours? Alcohol?! You always said you were against drinking at any age,” Peter fired back.

Will looked towards the floor and started to mumble (he thought to himself), “Stupid stupid stupid. You’re so stupid Will.  
Harry’s so stupid. Harry’s a big stupid jerk.”

But Peter had been listening. He looked at Will confused, 

“Will… Who’s Harry?”


End file.
